Calendar Years
by CubicleOfThoughts
Summary: A story of Eli and Clare, many years later. Love you guys! Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! Well this story is very different and very OOC. I love the idea, I got it from watching a show and instantly I thought of Eclare, but it won't instantly be Eclare though, it will be a slower moving process than what I usually write. Please give it a chance. R&R! **

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"Ali I need more fondant!" I shouted as I rolled out the brown modeling chocolate.

"How much longer do we have to stay here? I'm tired and have a life you know!" Ali shouted as she came into the back room lugging a large bucket of white fondant.

"Sorry, but this wedding cake is our biggest order in a long time. We have only until tomorrow evening to get it perfect." I said as I attached the brown tree to the side of the cake. It was a cherry blossom cake with pink and white flowers and the tree climbing up the cake. It looked beautiful so far.

"Whose wedding is this for anyway?" Ali asked as she took a seat on a metal stool making petals for the cake. I let out a sigh and said,

"Imogen and Fiona's wedding actually." Ali's eyes almost bugged out of her head and said,

"Oh my god, they are still together?" I smiled a little and nodded while going back to my work.

The day of the wedding…

Both brides looked radiant as they walked down the aisle together. Their smiles beamed and the room lit up with Imogen's and Fiona's families smiled at the happy couple. They had been together since their senior year of high school, now it is ten years later and they seem happier than ever. I scanned my eyes over the crowd and saw a few familiar faces. _Declan, Eli, Adam, Drew…_ and so many others.

Eli and I rekindled our relationship after the frostival, but we ended up going our separate ways after he left to go to college. He actually broke up with me that time. I never told anyone, but I was so heartbroken that I even tried to commit suicide. I know I'm pathetic.

I caught myself starring at Eli when I realized I needed to be setting up the cake and various cupcakes in the dining hall.

Ali finally showed up an hour late and she helped me set up all the stuff. When it was all finished we stood back and looked at our hours of work. It looked spectacular. The cake was perfect, the cupcakes were shimmering with sparkle dust and the petals on the flowers were magnificent.

Ali and I were packing up out equipment when someone came into the room. Ali kept packing while I looked up. It was Eli?

"Hey, Clare." He said with his hands in his jacket pocket. I looked at him and graciously nodded a hello before finishing up and starting to walk out, with Ali close on my tail.

"Clare wait!" Eli shouted as Ali and I went to out hot pink delivery van. I turned around and walked over to him. I wiped my frosting covered hands on my pink and white chef coat and said,

"Hey, Eli. What can I do for you?" He looked at me and then down to my hands.

"Um, I was wondering how you were doing is all." I smiled and said,

"Oh same old. I got to get going though; I have somewhere I need to be." Eli looked at me curiously and said,

"Where? Do you have another wedding to cater to today or something?" I smiled and shook my head no. He looked lost and said,

"Where then?" I looked at the ground and said,

"I have to go pick up my daughter." Eli's eyes nearly bugged out.

"You have a baby?" I laughed a little and said,

"Well she's not really a baby anymore, she's almost seven actually." Eli nodded and said,

"Who's your husband?" I sighed and said,

"I married Jake, but we just got a divorce, so I have full custody of her." Eli smiled a little and said,

"Well I will see you around then." I looked at him confused and left to go back to the delivery van.

"What was that all about?" Ali asked me as I got into the driver's side.

"I don't really know." And we left the conversation off with that.

Two months later…

"I can't believe we're building my baby's birthday cake! I want it to be the biggest and the best!" I said as I iced the bottom tear.

"I can't believe Lily is seven. I feel so old." Ali said with a chuckle. I smiled and nudged her shoulder and said,

"Oh you feel old huh? Well I feel ancient, she is a handful sometimes. I mean I had her when I was twenty and now I am twenty-seven and own a fairly successful business." I sighed a little.

"I know, but we seem to be doing really well. I mean hell I'm divorce too and you don't see me complaining." I laughed and Ali and I went back to building my princess' cake.

I went home that night exhausted but happy we completed a master piece for my baby. Ali and I share a four bedroom house, so she went to pick up lily from school while I took a hot bath and relaxed a little.

Ring. Ring…

Not a moment of silence!

"Hello?" I said in an irritated tone.

"Hey Clare, I'm sorry I can't make it to Lily's birthday, I um have a b-business trip to attend to." Jake stuttered. I heard a faint giggle in the background and I said,

"Whatever have fun with the whore." I hung up and cried a little. This is why we got divorce. He is a no good cheater. And he cheated on me with none other than _Jenna._ What a bitch!

The birthday party…

"Happy birthday to you!" We all sang as we rolled out the ocean themed cake. Lily's eyes got wide when she saw how much detail was on it. It had an octopus and the other entire sea creature dangling from it. I also made many varieties of cupcakes on the side in case some kids didn't like marble cake.

I was still tired from the day before, so I just sat on the picnic bench and watched as Lily and her many friends played and ate. Her party was in our back yard, and so far it was a success. Almost all the parents stayed, and even they were having a blast with the theme. I had water balloons, and mini pools and the big pool had floating fish in it as well. They were good because they were devices to help the kids if they were to fall in.

The party was going well so far until the gate to my back yard opened slightly. I looked over with tired eyes and saw _him._

"I thought you might need some more ice." Eli said with a smirk.

How did he even know it was Lily's birthday?


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, I mean for discontinuing this story to now, I never expected anyone to review. I loved the idea of this and I wanted it so badly to work out, I swear this is the only story I've been excited about it a very long time. Thank you all for the reviews; all of them made me very happy. Ok I know I should get on with the story now…so here we go!**

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Still Lily's birthday…

I looked over at Eli and instantly felt shock. How did he know where I lived? Better yet how did he know it was Lily's birthday?

I got up from the bench and walked slightly over to him and said,

"How did you…" before I could finish my sentence Lily came running over to me and hugged my leg. She smiled at me sweetly and said,

"Mommy, can a few friends sleep over tonight?" I looked around at her variety of friends and said,

"You can choose three friends; all of them have to be girls though. Ok baby?" I said to her. She nodded her pretty little head and went back over to the festivities. I turned my attention back to Eli and said,

"Like I was saying, how did you know where I live?" He looked down to the ground and said,

"I know you were the baker for Fiona's and Imogen's wedding, and they had your card. I did a little research and well…" he babbled on and I just stared at him with a blank expression. I felt like I was being stalked.

"Um…" was really all I could say. Eli handed me the bag of ice, he sighed and turned around to walk away. I felt bad, I did, but I mean he broke up with me. Why would he even think its ok to come here?

When Eli reached the gate, he turned around and whispered,

"I'm sorry." And then he left without another word. I don't know why but I felt like I should go after him. My heart still ached for him, but my body told me to stay put and not let him ruin my princess' day. So I let him go.

"Ali could you please bring out the candles and extra cupcakes while I get some plates and forks?" Ali smiled and walked into the house. Her son Jason was on her tail hugging her as she dragged him along on her leg. He had just turned three a couple months ago and he was so cute. He looked just Ali, and a little like Dave.

When I went into the house, I went towards the pantry and got out all the bags of stuff I needed. I looked out the window and saw Eli sitting on the curb with his head in his hands. I don't know why but I felt bad. I set the bag of stuff down and went outside. I walked slowly over to Eli and sat down. He looked up at me with blood shot eyes and sniffled.

"I'm sorry I'm just waiting for a taxi. I will be gone in a few minutes." He said,

"Why did you come here?" I asked in a gentle voice.

"I just wanted to see you. I know breaking up with you was a bad choice, but now I feel like I lost everything that means the most to me." He said looking down at the street.

"Eli, I was so heart broken when you left me. I even um… well never mind." He looked at me and then said,

"Please tell me." I sighed and said,

"I even tried to kill myself." It came out as barely a whisper. He looked at me with shock and another tear slipped down his cheek.

"Oh Clare, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do this. I just thought with college there were so many temptations I didn't want to take the chance of cheating on you, so I broke up with you." Now I knew why, but it didn't make me feel any better though.

I was about to answer Eli when Ali came marching out of the house with a crying Jason on her arm. He had a scraped knee. Ali looked at me and said,

"Clare if you don't mind I could use some help in here. It's chaos trying to take care of so many children." I sighed and got up from the curb. I straightened myself out and went to go inside without another word to Eli. I looked back at him and saw him shake. I shooed Ali back in the house and bent down to Eli and said,

"If you want to talk, I will be at Bentley's restaurant tomorrow at noon. I have a cake to deliver." He smiled and nodded as the taxi pulled up to the curb and he got in. I went back inside to tend to the rest of the children awaiting their sweet treats.

The next day…

"Mommy!" Lily said as she jumped on top of me in my king sized bed. I opened my eyes and grabbed her and tucked her under the blankets. She giggled and said,

"Mommy, I and the rest of us want breakfast. We're hungry!" I sighed and realized I had a house full of first graders hungry and crabby.

I had Lily leave the room while I got dressed and went into the kitchen. I grabbed the jug of pancake batter from the fridge and shook it before pouring six mini cakes on the hot griddle. I stacked them on plates and heated some syrup up before setting the table for the young girls.

"Breakfast is on!" I yelled down the hall. Not thirty seconds went by until I heard loud stomps come from Lily's room and four little girls came running in to eat their fluffy cakes. I smiled at their happy faces, and I went back to fixing my own breakfast; peanut butter toast and bananas, full of protein and yummy to boot.

Two hours later…

All the girls' parents had picked them up, and it was just Lily and me now. It was a Saturday afternoon, so she didn't have school. I looked over at the clock and saw it was already nine-thirty. I had to get to the bakery soon so I could make any last adjustments to the bar mitzvah cake that had to be at the restaurant on time. I gave Ali the day off to spend with Jason, so it was just me and Lily today.

I got a quick shower and gave Lily a bath before heading off to the bakery. Once we got there I had her sit on one of the metal stools and play with a discarded piece of fondant. I went into the fridge and wheeled out the cake. It was blue white and gold with the Jewish sign on it. It looked exactly to the specifications the customer wanted. Only thing that needed to be done was it needed a little sparkle dust on the gold part and a few minor touch ups to the fondant.

Noon…

I delivered the cake without a flaw, and went to go stand in the doorway of the party to make sure the family was happy. When the parents of the thirteen year old boy came over and handed me a check for the cake and a very generous tip I smiled and told them to give me a call for any other parties they might have.

Lily was playing at a table outside the restaurant with a coloring book, and I was looking around nervously. I thought I had told Eli to meet me here at noon. It was twelve-thirty and no sign of him. I decided I had given him enough time, so I packed up Lily and went over to the van to buckle her in. I was about to pull out of the parking spot when I saw Eli run across the street. He wasn't looking where he was going and out of nowhere a car blindsided him.

I ran out of the car and shouted,

"Eli!"

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**Cliffy! Review?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! Ok people, so far I feel so blessed to have people enjoying this story. I was looking at my reviews, and one made me laugh so hard I had to update now. I don't usually write and update on a daily basis, but in this case I will update today! I just realized i didn't edit this story really well before I updated, so I had to re-load it and make a few adjustments to make it fit the story line. So sorry. Please review guys!**

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At the scene…

"Eli!" I screamed and ran over to him. The car came to a screeching halt and the driver got out immediately and went to check on Eli. I bent down to his bleeding body and rubbed his head slightly. I braced his neck and yelled,

"Lily, get my phone out of my purse and call 9-1-1! Hurry!" I shouted and immediately my little girl grabbed my phone and made the call. Not five minutes went by until the sound of sirens filled the air.

I let a few tears slip as I held onto Eli with dear life. I kissed his cheek and let the paramedics take him away in the ambulance. I didn't know if he would be okay or not, all I knew was that my heart broke when I saw what had happened.

One day later…

I dropped Lily off at Ali's and my house and I went to go see Eli in the hospital. I was already there earlier that day, but I felt as if I should go back. From what the doctors said, Eli was in a drug-induced coma. I didn't know how or where to find Cece and Bullfrog at, so I just stayed with him for the most part. I did however call Imogen and Adam and Fiona. They all came as soon as they could.

Imogen and Fiona were on their honey-moon when I called. They had saved up and went to Fiji. They took the first flight back home and came as soon as they hailed a cab from the airport. Even though I didn't know them well, I knew they would need to know about Eli.

Two hours later, Eli's room…

All four of us sat huddled around Eli's bed until I heard my phone ring. I whispered a simple sorry before exiting the room to answer the pestering caller. I looked at the I.D. and saw it was Ali.

"Hello?" I said in kind of a tired voice. It wasn't Ali on the other end, it was Lily.

"Mommy?"

"Yes baby? What's wrong? Please put Ali on the phone baby." I heard Lily start to cry and she said,

"Auntie Ali went to go shower, and someone keeps knocking on the front door. I'm scared, mommy."

"Honey, go knock on the bathroom door and tell Ali. Then I want you to go into the back bedroom, the one with few windows. I want you to close the blinds and lock the door." I heard Lily run up the stairs and knock frantically on the door. I heard Jason screaming in the background and Ali saying,

"What's wrong honey?" I then heard Ali grab the phone and assure me everything was fine and she would take care of it.

I only really worried about it because Ali's ex-husband Dave used to beat Ali, and on occasion when he's drunk he shows up at her house demanding sex or money.

I went back into Eli's room and saw him lying there lifeless. I went and stroked his hair and turned to the group of people.

"I realize I don't really belong here, you guys are his friends, and I am just getting in the way." I kissed Eli's cheek again and walked out the door without uttering another word to the group.

One week later…

"Clare, you just steamed and melted my work of art!" Ali shouted as I turned out of dreamland to look at what I had done. I saw her perfectly crafted mickey-mouse cake ruined and I was the one to blame.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Ali! I will rebuild it." I went to get a new sponge cake from the fridge and went back to my carving and decorating table. Ali walked over to me and hugged me gently.

"Clare, you need to go home and sleep. This isn't healthy for you to stay here 24/7."

"Ali, this is a large order, I have to fix my mistake, so please, you go home and I will fix this. Lily is with Jake's parents tonight, so I have all night." Ali let out a loud sigh and started rolling out fondant.

Even if I told her she didn't have to help, she stayed all night long to help me fix the cake I messed up. By the time it was complete it looked even better than the first one. It was even bigger and better this time.

I told Ali to go home and I would deliver the cake. She shook her heads 'no' and insisted she drove and I went home. I said no, but she threatened me with a spatula so I laughed and went home.

Two hours later…

"What do you want for dinner, Lily?"

"Um, I want spaghetti!" I nodded and said,

"How about we go out tonight? Maybe to that new Italian restaurant?" Lily's face lit up and she immediately went to go put her shoes on. I smiled and got my coat and purse and on we went.

When we got to the restaurant I asked for a booth. The hostess seated us in a quiet section and told us to have a lovely meal. I thanked her and Lily and I looked over the menus.

"What would you like baby?" Lily smiled and said,

"Spaghetti and meatballs and garlic cheese bread!" I laughed at her excitement.

"Sure sweetie. I think I will have the same." She smiled bright at me and we waited for our waiter to come over.

"What can I get for you today?" The waitress said. I looked up and saw Imogen. I got up from my seat and hugged her and said,

"How's he doing?" Imogen let a few tears slip and said,

"He has amnesia."

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**Wow, this story is so addictive to write, I will keep updating for those who care to review. If you want to know what happens, please let me know and I will update as soon as I possibly can! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! Well I am sad to say I only had one reviewer last chapter. *sigh*. I am starting to think you guys aren't into this story anymore, so I am going to update with this chapter and if I don't get enough reviews I will just discontinue. Okay? By the way I re-loaded last chapter because I made a huge mistake in it and I had to fix it so the story wouldn't be messed up. Please review or I will discontinue.**

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At the hospital…

"What room is Eli Goldsworthy in?" I ask the busty nurse. She looks at her long chart and said,

"Room 512, honey." I thanked her and ran off towards the elevator. Once I got to the correct floor I ran to Eli's room and saw he was sitting on his hospital bed with an apple in his mouth and a sharpie in his hand.

"Eli?" I say as I walk towards him. He smiled and said,

"Hey, Clare. We have to finish filming out _Romeo and Juliet _project. Where's Adam at?" I gasped and said,

"How old are you, Eli?" He smirked and said,

"Well I'm sixteen. But I know you knew that though." I felt like I was going to faint. He lost twelve years of his life.

I sat on the edge of Eli's bed and watched him color his nails with the black sharpie. An hour went by and Adam finally came into the room. He was sipping a coffee and had very tired eyes. He saw me and gave me a nod and sat in the chair next to the bed.

"How are you feeling, man?" Eli looked at Adam and said,

"I feel fine, I have a headache though. So, I will play _Romeo,_ and Clare will be _Juliet._" Adam gave me a look of shock and said,

"What?" And so it began.

Two days later… Eli's apartment.

"Why can't you have any real food in here, dude?" Adam asked Eli as we walked him into his apartment. Only Adam had been there before, I had no idea Eli even lived so close to me, let alone in such a nice place.

"Why are we here?" Eli asked confused a little.

"You live here." I said to Eli as we sat on the couch.

"No, I live on Pine Drive, with _my parents._" I still couldn't find Cece or Bullfrog anywhere; it was as if they had disappeared into thin air or something.

"Eli, how about you take a nap and we will go see them later?" He nodded and laid his head in my lap. This is going to be the death of me.

One day later…

Finally I got home and Ali was waiting for me on the couch in our house with Lily in her lap. Lily had an owl beanie on and was sleeping soundly on Ali's lap while she rubbed her legs. I smiled and closed my front door quietly and motioned for Ali to come into the kitchen to talk.

"How's he doing?" Ali asked as she got us both a sparkling water from the fridge.

"He thinks were in high school still. Before the accident and everything." Ali let out a sigh and said,

"I don't want to make matters worse, but we have two huge wedding to do, and both cakes need to be complete by Friday." I looked at my phone and realized it was already Wednesday.

"Oh my god. We need to head to the bakery right now!" I grabbed Lily off the couch, and Ali grabbed Jason from the play pin and we headed out.

At the bakery…

"So the order form says they want pink and green fondant?" I asked Ali.

"Yeah, I thought it was strange, but they prepaid, so what can I say?" I laughed a little and started to add layers of lemon crème cake and rolled out fondant on the round tears. The cake was a five-tear cake, with alternating colors and flavors. One flavor was raspberry, the other was lemon.

I decided to put the cake in the fridge before I did piping work on it so it didn't fall apart. Ali was working on the other cake.

"Whose cake does this belong to?" I asked as I saw Ali add a well sculptured black and red modeling chocolate guitar to the pile of decorations.

"Oh it's a birthday cake for some guy named…" she looked at the order form and said, "Billy." I nodded and went to check on the kids.

Four hours later…

I still had a lot of work to do on the cake I was working on, but I needed a break, so I went down to the coffee shop across the street and ordered Ali and me our usual drinks.

I had our two iced coffees in my hand when I walked back into the bakery building. I was struggling with the door when some man came up behind me and held it open for me. I turned around and nearly dropped my coffees when I saw who it was.

"_Bullfrog?"_

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**I know this chapter is shorter, but I needed to end it there. I am writing the next chapter already, no guarantees how long it will be, but I will try my best to make it longer than this one. Oh don't you just love a good cliffhanger? Please review. I need more reviews this time to update. Thank you all :) **


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own anything!**

**Well everyone, I know a lot of you think I am "**_**obsessed**_**" with reviews, but I mean if I take the time to write the story, I would like feedback. I mean I have a baby, but still find the time to update almost daily on this story. So if I seem like I am being greedy for reviews, then I am sorry. Sorry for the rant or bitchy-ness, I am hormonal. **

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At the bakery…

"Bullfrog?" I choked out as I looked at him. He nodded and said,

"Clarabelle? Wow, it's been so long!" He followed me inside the bakery and went into the consultation room.

"I've been looking all over for you." I said.

"What? Why's that?" He asked confused.

"Eli…" he nodded and said,

"Well kid, Eli and I haven't spoken in years." I looked at him astonished and said,

"Look, Bullfrog, Eli was in a serious accident and needs help. I was hoping you could…" before I could even finish my sentence Bullfrog hopped out of the chair and said,

"Where is he, I'm going to call Cece and have her meet us there. She will never forgive me for this!" He chanted to himself as he pulled out his phone. I realized now that I had no idea why he was even near the bakery.

An hour later…

"So Billy must be Bullfrog then." I said to Ali as we finished prepping the cake to be delivered on Saturday.

"Yeah, I mean I didn't recognize him at first, but now that I looked at him I realized who he was." I nodded.

"I know, he changed his look completely. He looks…_clean_." Ali and I went back to working on the cake as the two children were in the office of the bakery napping.

The next day…

"Do you want to go visit Eli today?" Ali asked me as I got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen to make the kids lunch.

"I don't know, I mean he would be better off not knowing me. Maybe he wouldn't have developed…" I didn't finish my sentence before Ali shushed me and said,

"He being bipolar is not your fault! You didn't cause it; it is just part of his genetic genes. You have got to stop blaming yourself for this." I let out a sigh and nodded.

"I guess, but I still feel like his life would be easier without ever having to deal with me. Or go through all of this again." Ali was about to respond when Lily came into the room. She had blood shot eyes and said,

"I'm sorry mommy." I bent down and said,

"What's wrong, baby?" She started to cry and point to her crotch. It was wet.

"Oh honey, did you have another nightmare?" She nodded and I took her to the bathroom to run her a warm bath while I changed her pink pony sheets for her green alphabet ones.

"Ali, can you help Lily wash her hair while I finish making her bed, please?" I heard Ali run up the stairs and open the bathroom door. Sometimes it felt like things were going to actually be okay. Ali helped me almost all of the time; I could never thank her enough for being there for me.

Just as I finished up with Lily's bed, I heard Jason start to cry. I went into his room he shared with Ali and I picked him up. I laid him on the changing table and put a clean diaper and powder on his cute little butt. He laughed and reached his arms up for me to pick him back up.

Two days later…

"Can we go to the park, mommy?" Lily asked me as we were walking out of the bakery. I smiled at her and said,

"How about we go get something to eat then maybe go to the park." She smiled up at me and we walked to the delivery van.

We went to a small restaurant near home. Lily looked over the menu avidly before deciding on chicken fingers. I got a cheese burger.

"When will I get to see daddy?" Lily asked me out of the blue. My face flushed white and I said,

"Um well, I don't know really. I haven't talked to him in a while. I guess I could call him." Lily looked out the window and didn't respond. I didn't realize this was affecting her this much. I should've had Jake visit her or something. I know she misses him.

A week later… Eli's apartment.

I decided it was time to at least pay Eli a visit, so I just headed over to his apartment. I walked to the door I knew was his, and proceeded to knock.

The door opened slightly and I saw Adam stand in front of me.

"Um, hey." He said.

"Hey, I just wanted to check on Eli. How is he?" Adam gestured for me to come in.

"Look, Clare. Eli isn't doing very well. He doesn't know who anyone is as part of his current life. He didn't even know about his fight with his parents." I looked around as he talked and saw his apartment was a complete mess. I also noticed a slice of the cake we decorated for Bullfrog sitting on the coffee table. It looked like it had been there for a while. The air smelled stale, and the room was hot and humid.

"Where is he, I want to speak to him." I said to Adam for a final time. This time he didn't object, he just pointed to the closed door across the hall and said,

"In there."

I knocked on the door once and just headed in. This was something I never expected in a million years. There on the bed was Eli, naked with Imogen.

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**Um… **


	6. Chapter 6

**Well, another update. Thank you all for the reviews. They all make me feel good. This chapter is a little bit of a filler I guess, but the next one will be better! Please let me know what you think :)**

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Still at Eli's apartment…

I starred at Eli and Imogen for a minute before running out of the apartment crying. I don't know why, but I felt betrayed.

I ran out to the delivery van and fished for my keys in my purse. I finally found them and got into the van. I sat in the driver's seat and shook as I cried.

I sat there for maybe five minutes until I heard a knock on the window. I looked up and saw Adam. I rolled down the window and said,

"What?" It came out harsher than I meant it to be.

"I know what you saw in there. But let me explain to you." I didn't want to hear this.

"No, I just need to go. I'm sorry I ever came here." I started the car, but didn't move.

"Clare, please. Eli was confused. Imogen came over this morning and she told Eli she would give him sex to help him remember, and well I think you know what happened after that." I let more tears fall down my face.

"Did it help? Did Imogen being a slut help Eli?" I asked with a raged tone.

"Clare…" I cut him off and said,

"Just save it. I have to go." I put the van in drive and screeched off.

At home…

I walked into the house and went directly to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and got out the bottle of chocolate syrup and sat on the floor as I squeezed it into my mouth as I cried.

"Clare?" I heard Ali say as she walked into the kitchen. I looked up from the floor and said,

"I hate him." She knew what I was talking about, and just sat next to me and comforted me.

"What happened at Eli's?"

"He was too busy having sex with Imogen to notice me. She is what he always wanted, not me."

"Are you jealous, Clare?" I looked at her appalled and said,

"I am not jealous, I am just irritated." Ali smirked and I went back to eating my syrup.

One month and five days later…

"What would you like as a flavor on the cake?" I asked the tall male customer.

"Um well it's for my wife's baby shower; she is always changing her mind." I nodded and laughed a little and said,

"How about we do a six tear cake with all the flavors?" His face lit up and said,

"That would be perfect." I handed him his ticket and he paid the $300.00 for the cake before exiting the bakery.

After I finished up with the customer I went into the back of the bakery and checked the inventory to see if we had enough ingredients for the week. It looked like we had just about everything, but we needed more cocoa powder. I didn't want to call our delivery man to just drop off one box of that, so I decided to take money out of petty cash and go to the super market and buy it myself.

At the store…

I walked directly into the baking aisle and went over to the imported chocolate powders. It was a secret ingredient to our cakes was mixing imported exotic chocolates and regular ones to make a perfect amount of richness to the cake.

I forgot to check the fridge to see if we need cream cheese or sour cream, so I just had to assume we were low on it. So I went over to the dairy section and picked up three containers of high quality sour cream and six packages of cream cheese.

I went over the list of things in my head and decided to just pick up a few things for dinner at home tonight. Lily seemed sad lately, so I decided to make one of her favorite foods. Homemade pizza and garlic cheese bread. She loves to throw the dough up and try to be a chef. It is so cute every time we make this.

I finished up at the store and went back to the bakery with all the ingredients. I put them all away and went back over to the computer to check if we had any email orders in.

I looked at the company email and saw we indeed had a new order. I clicked on it and it was for a surprise party. I printed out the order and put it in the basket before packing up for the day and heading home.

At home…

"Mommy! I got dough in my hair!" Lily shouted as she giggled trying to get the pizza crust off her head. I went over to her and said,

"I think it's safe to say this crust is trash." I helped her take the dough off her head and we went back to rolling out fresh dough. We ended up making three pizzas and two loaves of garlic bread. All of which was made from scratch.

After we had the table set, we called down Ali. She walked down the stairs slowly and looked exhausted. I took her aside while Lily ate and said,

"What's wrong?" Ali sighed and said,

"Dave wants me to go back with him or he will take custody of Jason from me." She started to cry and I hugged her and rubbed her back gently.

"I will call my dad and have him check this out for you; we have nothing to worry about so far, okay?" She nodded and we all went to the table to eat while Jason was napping in his swing next to the table.

Four days later…

I was working on the surprise party cake when the phone rang. I put down the icing bag and went to answer the phone.

"Hello?" I said as I walked back over to the decorating table.

"Hey, I was just checking to see if a cake I ordered was ready yet?" I knew that voice.

"Eli?" I said into the phone.

"Oh my god, Clare. I didn't know this was your bakery." I let out a sigh and said,

"Your surprise cake is ready, you can pick it up or have it delivered anytime between now or seven tonight." I gave him his options.

"Okay, I will just pick it up. It's for my girlfriend." I told him okay and gave him directions before hanging up and going back to work.

Later that evening…

When Eli came to pick up the cake I was just putting it in a safe box and was cleaning up a bit. I heard the bakery bell ring and I went to the front of the store to see Eli standing there in his usual clothes, he was looking a little glum.

"Hey, Clare." He said while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey, I have your cake ready to go. Since you paid by credit online all we have to do is sign the confirmation forms." I handed him a paper while I went back into the back of the bakery.

"Here" I handed him the box. I was about to walk back into the back when Eli said,

"It's for Imogen. I'm proposing to her tonight."

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**Please don't hate me. I love Eclare, but this is going to be a bit different. I promise it will be better in the next chapter or two! Keep that in mind. Review please, guys.**


	7. Another Chance

_**For all my reviewers: thank you all for making me feel special, when someone criticizes me or my writing I take it to heart. I love that most of you are sweet enough to take the time to tell me you want me to continue writing. I have been thinking about it and I would like to continue this story for all of you that took the time to assure about my writing skills. However, if I get one more bad and or mean review I will discontinue fully. I hope I can continue this, here is chapter seven!**_

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**Okay, so… well I love that at least one of you caught onto the Imogen/ Fiona thing so far. To clear things up for you who are like WTF, this story is out of control, let me tell you that I have reasons to do this. I am working on making this different. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter. Please review if you would like an update soon or at all. **

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At home… six p.m.

Ali and I were reading to the kids and tucking them in when the doorbell rang. I left Ali to tend to the two kids while I check to see who was at the door.

I slowly walked down the wooden staircase and walked to the door. I looked through the peep hole and saw an unlikely person. I opened the door and said,

"Fiona?" It was raining out and she was drenched. She looked like she hadn't showered in days, her clothes were dirty and she had a faint smell of urine on her; nonetheless I invited her in.

"What happened to you?" I asked the once wealthy princess. She sat down on the wood floor and said,

"I don't want to get your nice furniture dirty." She looked starving.

"Fiona, what is going on?" she sighed and said,

"Imogen used me. She took everything once she found out Eli had amnesia, she left me. She left me broke and homeless, she took everything." Fiona clutched the only thing she had with her. _A pink sweater._

After speaking with Fiona for an hour or so, I and Ali decided to let her stay here for a while. She had no one and nothing.

I gave Fiona a set of clean pajamas and new underwear and sent her to go shower. I took her filthy clothes and put them in a black garbage bag and threw them out. They stunk and looked putrid.

The next day…

"Hey, Clare?" Ali asked me as I was washing up the breakfast dishes.

"How long are we going to let Fiona stay here?" I turned around to see if Fiona was around and I said,

"I don't know, I was thinking about giving her a job at the bakery to help her get started again." Ali nodded a little but said,

"What would she be doing at the bakery exactly?"

"We need a person to make deliveries and handle appointments; I think she will be good for that job." We talked a little more about it and again agreed to give her a job for the time being.

Two weeks later…the bakery.

"Would you like to come in for a consultation today? We have a cancelation." I heard Fiona say on the phone while sitting in the office.

When she was done with her phone call I asked her what the consult was for, and she said some kind of small wedding. Apparently the people needed the cake in a rush.

I went back to working on cupcakes for a wedding shower when I heard the bakery bell ring. I cleaned my hands and walked over to the front of the bakery.

"Hello, what can I …" I stopped talking when I saw who it was. "Imogen?"

She held up a large diamond ring and said,

"You did such a great job with my first wedding cake; I thought I would have you do this one too. But this time I don't need two brides on the top, just make it traditional." I glared daggers at her and said,

"No, I will not make your cake. Please leave." In pointed to the door. How dare she come in here and think it would be peachy to order a cake from me?

Imogen starred at me with astonishment and said,

"Oh I see, you are still in love with my fiancé." I glared daggers at her and was about to lose my temper when Fiona came out from the back and took Imogen's arm and shoved her out the door.

"Thanks." I said to Fiona as she locked the door. She smiled a little and said,

"I can't believe we were once married. I hate her!" I nodded and we both decided to call it a day and close early and meet Ali and the kids up for dinner.

At the diner across the street…

"So she just showed up there?" Ali asked to clear up what I just said. I nodded and let Fiona explain the rest while I tried to get the attention of the waiter to get a refill on my soda.

When I finally got their attention they came over and said,

"I'm sorry ma'am, we suddenly got a party table top of twenty and I am swamped. What can I get you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Can I just get another diet?" He nodded and grabbed my empty glass and came back with a new glass of soda.

"Is there anything else you need?" I was about to speak when another waiter came over and said,

"Go back to your rowdy table, man. I will take care of this section."

I guess the waiter didn't notice who I was at first because all he was doing was fishing for a pen in his apron pocket. When he found what he needed to take my order as well as everyone else's he looked up.

"Clare? Fiona?" I wanted to kick him in the balls right then and there.

"Yeah. We would like a different waiter." I said with as much courage as I could muster up.

"Why? I haven't seen you in a while, and Fiona! I missed you." I looked at him with shock and Fiona got up from the table and slapped him across the face before saying,

"Fuck you!" We all followed her as she stormed off into the rainy night.

At home…

"Fiona, calm down. It is not going to help you if you keep hyperventilating." She looked up at me from her couch bed and said,

"He stole the love of my life. I just…" she didn't get to finish her sentence when the doorbell rang.

I walked over to the door and opened it without looking. There stood a drenched Eli. All he said was,

"I remember…"

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**Well, I believe I may end this story right here, or maybe another chapter or two? Let me know! Oh how I love a good cliffy or maybe ending?**


	8. Chapter 8!

_**Stranger: **_**Well let me tell you, yes I did let one person ruin it. But I decided to finish the story, but like I told my reviewers, if I get anymore "mean" reviews I will quit for good. I am pregnant and hormonal and already have a young daughter as well, so just lay off. And like I said in the A/N this is just the outline to the story, this story will most likely be thirty or more chapters if possible. So please don't ruin it for the rest of the people. Thank you.**

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At home.. (Still)

"I remember." Eli said to me as I opened the door.

"W-what?" I asked him astonished.

"I was coming to meet you up and I wanted to talk… I got hit by a car. I remember." I told him to come inside. He was still wearing his waiter's uniform.

I told Eli to sit on the couch while I grab him a towel because it was pouring out. I told Ali that Eli was here, and she said she would keep Fiona upstairs as well as the children.

"Eli, what made you all of a sudden remember?" I asked in a subtle voice as I sat across from him on the rocking chair.

"Well, when I saw you in the diner, I recognized you. And when Fiona slapped me, it was like everything clicked. I knew."

"You need to get back to your fiancé, and leave." I told him while standing up.  
"No, I don't even know why I was with Imogen. She and Fiona belong together." I sat back down and was about to talk when Lily came running down the stairs. She had tears rolling down her face and she was shaking.

"Baby, what's wrong. Tell mommy!" I said to my crying baby. Eli watched me as I picked up Lily from the floor and sat her on the couch. A loud crack of thunder boomed and shook the house, and Lily cried harder. Now I understood. She was scared.

"Sweetie, why didn't Fiona or Ali comfort you? You know they are up there too." She looked down at her hands but didn't say anything. I just kissed the top of her head and laid her on the couch with a blanket and teddy bear. It was her one comfort she has had since the divorce.

One hour later…

"Please, Clare." Eli pleaded with me to let him stay at my house for a couple days to figure things out.

"No, Eli. Fiona and Ali don't want you here, and to be blunt, neither do I." Eli looked at me with incredibly sad eyes and went to the front door.

"I have something for you, but I will just send it over to you. I was going to give it to you the night of the car crash." I nodded and watched him leave.

Two months later…

"Okay so let me get this straight, you agreed to make Jake and Jenna's wedding cake as long as he signs off on giving you full custody?" I nodded and went back to piping on thin black lines.

"Yeah, I mean he didn't really want Lily in the first place, so why not make her fully mine?" Ali just nodded and went to decorate the cupcakes that would go around the extravagant cake. I had to make it my best because the fate of my daughter depended on it.

Four days later… Jake and Jenna's wedding.

"Oh my god, the cake is amazing!" Jenna cooed at my most recent masterpiece. I just gave her the most genuine smile I could muster up before walking over to Jake. I had the pen and paper in my coat pocket, so I wanted the signatures so I could just step out of this night mare and move on with my life.

"Here." I handed the paper to Jake. He looked down and said,

"Oh yeah, about that…" I looked at him and he said,

"Jenna wants to be a mommy now, and well since Lily is already born and all, I thought we might as well have a trial run with her…" before I knew it Jake was on the floor withering in pain. I looked behind me and saw Eli standing there with his fist all bloody and smirk on his face.

"Don't you dare drag that sweet little girl in your sick new life, you sick bastard!" Eli shouted. Jake looked up at him with a bloody lip and only said,

"Fine, you can have the little brat. I doubt she was ever mine anyway. I know Clare was a little... slutty?" I let a tear fall down my face and walked out of the dining hall and to the front of the huge building. Eli was on my tail.

"Clare, don't let what he said affect you. I know Lily is his child." I let a few more tears slip before choking out,

"I don't know if Jake is Lily's dad or not."

"What?" Eli said in a whisper.

"I had an affair; about a month before I found out I was pregnant."

"With who?" I didn't want anyone to know who I had been with.

"He was just a stranger customer. Not a big deal now. I haven't seen him since then, and I don't plan on seeing him now." Eli just looked at me with a disappointed look but hugged my shoulders tight nonetheless.

That night… At home.

"So you and Eli are trying to be friends again?" Fiona asked.

"Yeah, he left Imogen and made her move out. He and I are trying to pick up on a non-romantic vibe." She nodded and went back to spinning the salad.

"I just hope you are being careful. I know how evil life can be." I nodded and went back to flipping the burgers we were all having for dinner.

We were setting the table for dinner when Ali came busting through the front door. She was working late on a back order and decided to just get some more work done before heading back home. I agreed because we really needed the money right now.

"Whoa where's the fire?" I joked as I went back to putting burgers on buns with all the sides included.

"The bakery was robbed!"

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**So… yeah. This chapter takes a time leap, but the next few will have more detailed stuff in it. I will try to update as soon as possible... please review is you would like an update soon or at all! And for all of you kind enough to be so sweet to me, the note on top is to someone who reviewed "**_**Stranger" **_**and she was rather rude. So I don't want the rest of you to think I was being mean to you. I can pretty much update every day; I am on bed rest so I have nothing else to do. And I have six months left until the baby is here… so expect some more stories, and this one to be updated fairly often. Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello! Well I got a few sweet reviews and I am quite happy! Thank you all :) **

**Now is where the story is really going to start. Be prepared for time gaps and flashbacks and much more twists and surprises. Lily is going to take an important role soon, and so is Jason. I have a few things in mind, but I am going to see how much reviews I get to decide what I will do with the two of them. Ali on the other hand will have a few things going on as well, but so far the story shall remain in Clare's point of view.**

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Home… same time.

"What do you mean the bakery was robbed?" I shouted. Ali tried to catch her breath and finally said,

"They took all the money and all of our expensive equipment!"

"Ali, were you there when it happened?" She nodded and sat on the floor and cried. The next thing I knew we were all at the police station looking at a lineup of men that could be the culprit to robbing our beloved bakery.

"Do you recognize any of these men?" I was standing behind Ali rubbing her shoulder to keep her calm while she observed the culprits. I was looking at her and not the lineup until I heard one of them say something. I looked up and came face to face with my ex-husband.

It turned out Jake robbed the bakery to pay for drugs for Jenna. They were making a meth lab in their studio apartment. Jake had spent all the cash, and most of the equipment was destroyed. The insurance company said everything would be replaced in a matter of weeks, and Jake and Jenna would be put in jail for a long time. It made me incredibly happy this time that my ex was being such an ass because he could've ended up with partial custody of Lily.

At the bakery… one month later.

"So, Clare do you want to go to the movies tonight?" Eli asked me while he sat on the small metal stood while I made a checker-board cake.

"Eli…" I sighed.

"I thought because we were doing so well as friends that maybe we could…" I cut him off before he could say it.

"Eli, I am not even close to ready for that."

"Oh OK." I felt bad for doing this, but he and I were just starting to be friends again.

"Do you want to help me decorate this cake?" I asked Eli as he looked up from his lap, I saw his eyes were bloodshot.

"Eli?" He got up from his seat and walked to the back bathroom in the bakery.

I went after him and knocked lightly on the door.

"Please open up." I said.

"I feel so stupid. Of course you don't want to date a freak like me again." Then and there I felt even worse.

"Eli, I still have incredible feelings for you, but right now I am trying to get back to normal." I heard the door unlock and Eli emerge.

"Will you ever give me another chance?" I nodded and said,

"At some point, fairly soon we will get back to whatever we are or were." I was about to walk back into the decorating room when Eli grabbed my arm gently and pulled me in for a hug. When we pulled out of each other's embraces Eli dug his hands in his pocket and pulled out a small box. I looked at him shocked but he then opened it and said,

"I wanted to give this to you since before the accident." He opened the box and handed me his scull ring.

"Why are you giving me this?" I asked confused.

"Because it is important to me, and I figure if you know I have no plan on leaving again, you would take me more seriously." I smiled and kissed Eli on the cheek before slipping the ring on my thumb and returning back to work.

Two weeks later… home.

"I can't believe you are moving out!" I said to Fiona as we helped her pack up her last box from her room. She smiled at me with sad eyes and said,

"Me either. I want to thank you and Ali here for helping me and taking me in. I really appreciate all of you so much." We all came in for a group hug. When we all let go I said,

"Who are we going to fill with this room now?" Ali was about to answer when…

"I wouldn't mind taking it off your hands. I can pay rent." We all turned around and saw Eli standing there with Jason in his arms and Lily holding onto his other hand.

"Whoa, where did you come from?" Ali said. I laughed and said,

"You know he is working as our nanny since he lost his job." We all laughed and said,

"Sure, Eli. You can live here for free though." He smiled wide and handed Jason back to Ali before giving me a big hug.

The next day…

"So are you sure you know what you are doing?" I asked Eli as we stood in the bakery next to the large mixer. He gave me a smile and said,

"I can handle putting ingredients into this thing." I gave him a leery look before nodding and exiting the room.

I went into the refrigerator to check our stock of dairy products when I heard the fire alarms go off. I opened the door and saw black smoke immerge from the overs and Eli coughing and saying,

"I think we have a problem." I laughed hysterically and grabbed the fire extinguisher and put out the small oven fire. Eli looked at me amazed and said,

"I'm sorry." I smiled and said,

"Okay you are on clean up duty only for a while, mister!" He laughed. I went back into the decorating room and picked up the piping bag. I switched to the number five tip and was about to make flowers for the top of a simple wedding cake. I got ready to make the small pink flowers when someone tapped me on the shoulder and I jumped. I turned around squirted the person in the face with frosting.

"Eli?" I said. He wiped the frosting off his face and stuck his now pink finger in his mouth and said,

"Oh payback shall come, just you wait."

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**Well… I think this came out alright. Let me know what you think in a review please! Thank you all. Review if you want an update soon or at all!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I don't own Degrassi!**

**Hello! I am so happy people are liking this! I am adding more and more Eclare in the story, but it is going to be a slow process. Like I said it will be a long story, around thirty chapter's maybe. Please review! :)**

**Before I start the story, I want to thank all of my reviewers, the more I get, the more I feel like finishing this story on time. I am still updating about every day and I only do that because I love the story and I love reviews. Thank you all for such kindness, whether you sent me a message or left a review, I appreciate it a lot! Please continue on!**

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Two months later… at the bakery.

"That wasn't funny, Eli!" I shouted at him as I chased him around the bakery with a plastic bug. He laughed hysterically and said,

"Oh god, what if someone ate that!" I punched him in the arm and said,

"What were you thinking, that wasn't nice!" He smirked and said,

"And squirting frosting in my face wasn't nice either. I told you I would get you back." I sighed in defeat and went back to the design of the cake. Well really I had to make a new one, who knew what else Eli could've done to this one.

Two weeks later… home.

"Clare!" Eli shouted from the top of the stairs.

"What?" I said as I came around the corner. He threw a pair of skull boxers on my head and said,

"Could you wash those with your load please?" I threw the dirty boxers on the floor and said,

"No, I'm tired of taking care of you. You are our nanny guy. You take care of the children and pull your weight around here. I am not your servant, so do your own crap!" I shouted at him as I stalked off down the hall to the laundry room to do my own load of delicates.

"Clare?" Eli said as he peeked into the laundry room. I didn't bother to look at him as I angrily threw laundry into the machine.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize what I was doing. I will make it up to you, I promise." I looked up at him with teary eyes and nodded. He swooped in and hugged me tight and said,

"I didn't mean to make you cry. I am so sorry."

"I just feel like I have two children with you constantly leaning on me for everything. It is just too much for me." I cried a little and Eli lifted me onto the washing machine.

"How about I take you out to dinner next week? It can be as just friends or maybe a date?" I blushed and said,

"I would love to go on a date with you." He smiled and put me down after giving me another bone crushing hug.

One week later… on the town.

"Okay so I need to go get stuff for the bakery and other stuff." I said to Ali while not making eye contact.

"Oh really? And what other kind of _stuff_ do you need to buy?" She asked.

"I um…" I looked at my watch and said, "Well look at the time, I better just be going now." I walked away at a brisk pace and went down to the end of the block and into a shop.

"Hello ma'am, is there anything I can help you with today?" The lady asked me as I turned red looking at see-through night wear.

"I um have a date tonight and sort of wanted to…"

"Look sexy? Yes I can help you with that. We sell everything you need, dresses, shoes, lingerie, and well other stuff as well." I blushed redder and said,

"I just need maybe a sexy bra or maybe um…" she laughed and grabbed a pink lace bra off the rack and looked down at my rather large breasts. She put it back and grabbed a bigger one and said,

"Here, this one should be right. Go try it on, honey." I smiled and went into the back to try on the bra.

I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled a little. For once in a long time I looked like me. Not a baker, not a mom, just regular old Clare Edwards.

I went to the counter and paid for my stuff and shoved the stripy bag inside my big purse so Ali didn't see it.

At the grocery store…

I walked down the crowded aisles looking for all that was on my list when I accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry." I said as I looked up. I was met with a familiar smirk of none other than Eli.

"Just can't get enough of me, can you?" He said still smirking.

"Shut up, Eli." He smiled and leaned down to kiss my cheek and said,

"I am really excited for our date tonight. I have been waiting for this moment for so long." I smiled wide and said,

"I'm really excited too. I just need to go home and shower then I will be all ready to go." Eli's smirk grew wider.

"You mean you're going _naked?"_ I blushed dark and tilted my head down.

"No." I whispered.

"Awe, I was kidding, I am sure whatever you are going to wear will look amazing on you." I smiled a little and hugged him before walking off to the checkout line.

After I paid for all my stuff I went to the car and put it in and drove home. I was very excited for my night Eli.

At home… half hour later.

"Um, Ali?" I said in a leery voice as she sat next to me on the couch reading a cake decorating magazine.

"Yes?" She said without looking up.

"Can you watch Lily for me tonight?" Ali threw her magazine across the room and pointed a finger at me.

"You're going to go get some, aren't you?" I shrugged and said,

"So what if I am. Are you going to watch her or not." She nodded and I went upstairs to go get ready.

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**So, a date with Clare and Eli… what the hell? I don't know, but next chapter will have the date and possibly more Lily, we will see how it goes, or how long the chapter will be. Please review if you want an update soon or at all :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**I don't own anything!**

**Well the time has come for Eli and Clare to have their first date in many years! I wonder how well this shall pan out. **

**Before I start the story, I want to thank my two loyal reviewers whom review almost every chapter and are always encouraging. So, thank you The Cliffhanger Girl, and thank you Degrassistar, you both make me continue. Love you both! :)**

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Getting ready for the date… In the bathroom.

"I need to take a shower! Hurry up Ali!" I heard Eli knock on the door. I giggled and said,

"Guess again, Eli." I heard him gasp and said,

"Oh, sorry Clare. Can I maybe come in and take a shower?" I laughed and opened the door. I was in my robe doing my makeup, so I didn't see why not.

"Yeah sure." I shut the door again once he was inside and turned on the vent fan.

"No peeking, missy." I smirked and went back to looking in the mirror while applying mascara.

Once Eli was done in the shower he put a towel around his waist and walked over to the potty and sat down. He looked up at me and smiled before saying,

"I'm really happy right now." I smiled and said quietly,

"Me too."

I finished putting on makeup and doing my hair before exiting the bathroom. Eli stayed to comb and grooms himself.

At dinner…

"Thanks." I said to Eli as he pulled out the chair for me. He smiled and sat on the opposite side of the table. We were at this fancy Chinese restaurant where everything was authentic. The décor was red and black, and the chefs only spoke in traditional and professional Chinese.

We were looking at the menu and I decided on the sweet and sour shrimp and fried rice. Eli got the same but with fried noodles instead.

"So, Clare…" Eli started.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I was wondering if you maybe wanted to talk about what happened…" I looked at his with a sad face and shook my head.

"No, I don't want to talk about our break up, or your accident or anything like that. Please?" Eli nodded and looked around the restaurant for something to say. We both stayed quiet for quite some time until our food finally arrived.

"Oh my gosh, this is amazing!" I said with a piece of shrimp hanging out of my mouth. Eli laughed and said,

"Yes, but didn't anyone teach you manners?" I laughed and accidentally spit a piece of shrimp in Eli's eye. He jumped up and tried to get the food particles out of his eye while the rest of the restaurant starred at him and laughed.

"Eli, sit down!" I ordered. He wiped his face on his shirt and sat back down. His eye was red and puffy.

"Oh gosh, I am so sorry!" I said as I fished eye drops out of my purse.

"It's okay, really." I looked around at everyone still laughing and I said,

"Let's just go." I got up from my seat and walked out. Eli paid and followed.

"This was a horrible idea, let's just go home and forget about tonight." I said in a sad disappointed voice.

"No, I promised you a date, and dammit we will have one!" I shook my head and walked over to the curb to hale a taxi.

"Clare, please let me take you somewhere else, anywhere." I sighed and said,

"We were always a disaster couple that will never change. Only thing that did change was the level of awkwardness and our ages."

"Please, let's at least go get a dessert."

"Okay." I gave up and Eli grabbed my hand and we walked down the street to a local bakery. I sat down again and Eli ordered us both a vanilla cupcake and coffee.

Three days later…

"Mommy, why did Eli sleep in your room last night?" I blushed like mad and said,

"Um well…" I couldn't think of a response so I just said,

"How about we go to the bakery and see if Ali needs any help with an order." She smiled wide and nodded.

At the bakery…

"Ok Lily, you go sit at the table and I will get you something to decorate." She went and sat at the small table in the middle of the room while I went and got a small bag of frosting and a mini cake for her.

"Here, I want it to be gorgeous." I told her. She slipped on a pink frilly apron and got to work. I love how serious she got when it came to cake decorating. She was so much like me, and I was grateful for that.

I was working on a seven tier cake when I heard Ali come in. Originally I thought she was going to be here, but I guess she had other things to do.

"Hey." She said while trying to hide her face.

"Um, Ali?" I said as I approached her. I lifted her chin up slightly and that's when I saw it. She had a huge black eye.

"Oh my god! What happened?" I asked her as I rushed to the freezer to get some ice for her swelling face.

"Dave is what happened." I sighed and told her to sit down while I held the ice for her.

As Ali cried, I looked over at my little princess. When I saw her table was empty and she was gone; I panicked. I dropped the bag of ice and yelled,

"Lily! Where are you?" I went into frenzy as I looked all over the bakery. I looked in the pantry, in the store room and finally in the freezer.

As I opened the walk-in freezer, I saw instantly a shivering little brown haired girl shaking on the floor. I went over and picked Lily up and took her to the office. I sat her down and tried to warm her up while Ali called for an ambulance. It looked like Lily's epilepsy got the better of her today and she had another seizure.

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**Well guys… so it starts. I think this chapter has more significance than most because you get to know more about Lily and Ali's characters more. So, epilepsy… I had a friend who had it and she would have seizures that would make you wander off and not know who you are and what you are doing. So after thinking about it I thought it would be good to add it to the story. I'm not going to give away the next chapters plot, but I will tell you it is going to be sort of active like this one. Please review if you would like an update soon or at all :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay to start, I feel bad I missed a day of updating. But to be honest, I was just too tired to even write let alone think of a good idea for this chapter. **

**On a side note, I received a really sweet review, well actually all of them were sweet, and so I want to thank all of you! Onto the story!**

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In the ambulance…

"Her vitals are stable, but it looks like she may have hit her head on something." The EMT said as he put a tiny IV in her arm while we sped through stop lights and stop signs. We had to get to the hospital fast and we were still ten minutes away. Ali was going to follow in the van while I rode with Lily.

As we got closer to the hospital, Lily was starting to wake up. She had fallen asleep after her seizure, so the EMT's just let her stay that way until we could transport her to the hospital safely.

At the hospital… the children's wing.

Lily was taken directly back into see a doctor when we arrived, and we were told we could wait for her stats in the children's wing where she would be placed.

I waited as best I could, but I still felt extreme anxiety about Lily, she was my only baby, so if she wasn't okay I don't know what I would do.

I finally decided to just sit down and wait when I realized Eli had no idea what was going on, let alone he was watching Jason for us today. I decided to give him a quick call to let him know what happened.

After a few rings, Eli finally answered.

"Hello?" He said.

"Hey, are you busy?" I asked him.

"No, not really. Jason and I are just about to walk into the house." I let out a breath I was holding in and said,

"I need to tell you something, but you need to stay calm, okay?" I heard him suck in a tight breath and say,

"Okay, shoot." I sighed and said,

"Lily is in the hospital." I heard him grab his keys and say,

"What hospital? Tell me what happened!" It was sweet how much he cared about a child that wasn't even his own.

I told Eli all the information he needed to know, and hung up.

As I waited to see how things with Lily were going, I decided to go get something to eat from the vending machine.

I stood starring at the machine with a blank expression until someone touched my shoulder. I turned around quickly and said,

"Oh my god, you scared me, Ali!" She hugged me and said,

"How is she doing?"

"I don't know, they won't tell me anything!" Ali got a mischievous look on her face and walked up to the nurses' station. I watched as she argued with a nurse until I saw the nurse write a few things on a piece of paper and hand it to Ali.

Ali walked back over to me and handed me the paper and said,

"Here are her current stats; it's the most current as in ten minutes ago." I thanked her profusely and read the paper. It said Lily was still stable but had a possible concussion. She will need a cat scan to see what is fully wrong.

After I finished reading her stats I pulled out my phone and called Fiona.

"Hello?" She said in a chipper voice.

"Lily is in the hospital." That was all I could really say.

"I will be right there!" She said and we both hung up.

As I was putting my phone back into my pocket, the doors to the emergency children's wing flew open and a young doctor came prancing out. She had a straight face on and walked over to me.

"Are you Clare?" I nodded and said,

"How is my baby?" She let out a breath and said,

"Maybe you should sit down for this." I looked at her with a glare and said,

"Just tell me what is wrong with my baby!" She shook her head and said,

"She has brain damage from her fall in the freezer, she will need immediate surgery to relieve the pressure or she will be paralyzed or even die."

Two days later… the hospital still.

"Her recovery will be rough, but I think her epilepsy will let up for the most part now." The doctor said to me as I sat next to Lily. Her hair was shaved and she had a white bandage wrapped around her head. She was sleeping, so I was just rubbing her arms. I usually rubbed her hair while she slept, but in this case I couldn't.

"When will she be okay enough to take home?" I asked the doctor.

"Soon, I'd say in the next few days or so." I nodded and thanked her.

As she left the room I heard a small groan and Lily's arms start to move a little.

"Mommy?" Lily said in a raspy voice. I let a tear slip and I said,

"I'm right here babied; I haven't left you, not even once." She smiled and said,

"I'm sorry for going in the freezer." I squeezed her hand gently so I wouldn't hurt her and I said,

"Baby, that wasn't your fault; I forgot to give you your seizure meds. It most defiantly wasn't your fault. It was mine." We talked a little more before she closed her eyes. I was about to go use the bathroom attached to the room when suddenly the machines attached to Lily stated to beep and flat-line.

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**Well, I love leaving things on a cliffy. Let me know what you think. Review if you want an update soon or at all :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Well everyone, I am glad to hear you are really enjoying this story. I truly love writing it, so I am glad you guys like it too :) **

**Before I start the story, I must say that I will try to update every day, but I can guarantee that the next two weeks I will be very busy. I currently live in Wyoming and my husband is from England, so we are moving back to England. I just got doctors approval to go, so we have it scheduled to go soon. I am trying to write out a few extra chapters so I can just upload them on a daily basis like I do now, but only time will tell. Okay, on with the story!**

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Still Lily's room…

The doctors rushed in and immediately they started chest compressions. I fell to the ground and sobbed as I heard them yell things at oncoming nurses to retrieve things to save my baby.

I don't know how long it had been, but I heard the doctor say,

"Call it." I screamed and said,

"No! You bring her back!" I sobbed uncontrollably and went to my baby's side. I leaned over the bed and hugged her tight and cried harder. Her body was limp and lifeless now.

The doctors and nurses left the room so I could say my goodbyes in private. I wanted to die right now, I needed my baby.

As I finished saying goodbye, I heard a faint, _beep, beep. _I looked up at the machine, and I saw a heartbeat. I ran out the door and shouted for help.

Almost all the doctors came running back in and they took her vitals and said,

"It truly is a miracle, she was unresponsive, and now she seems to be just fine." They all looked at the piece of paper that printed out of the heart monitor and looked at the irregularities on it.

After being astonished, the doctors left, and I sat on the bed once again and hugged Lily. She was just starting to wake up again. This time I will not leave her side. She is my life, without her I don't have a reason to live.

One month later…

"Are you sure you're ready to go back to school, baby?" I asked Lily as she put her beanie on and tied her shoes. She smiled at me and said,

"Yes, mommy. I took my new meds and I feel much better, I am ready to get back to normal." I didn't feel comfortable letting her go, but I knew we both had to get on with life the best we could.

According to Lily's school, no one can wear hats. Lily has no hair on her head still, and she still has nasty bloody scars, so I called the school administrator and explained everything to her. She immediately understood and faxed me over a permission slip signed by her, herself. She even wrote Lily a get well note with a pink smiley face. Even people who really don't know Lily seem to love her.

When I pulled up to the curb of Lily's school, I cut the engine and got out. Lily looked at me from inside the car window and glared a little. I opened her door and said,

"Why are you glaring at me?" She sighed and said,

"I am not a baby, mom. You haven't walked me inside in almost two years now." I laughed and kissed her forehead before saying,

"Just deal with it. School is almost out and I will do what I want, thank you very much." She let out a small whimper of annoyance and walked slightly in front of me. I was carrying her hello kitty backpack while she carried her matching lunch box.

Once we got to the back of the building where her class would line up at, her teacher immediately walked up to Lily and pulled her hat off. Lily screeched out in pain and embarrassment.

"What are you doing?" I shouted at the teacher. She stood up in front of me and said with her arms crossed,

"There are no hats aloud in school." I glared at her and snatched the hat from her grasp and said,

"Don't you dare touch my kid. And look what you did; now her newly healed stitches are bleeding." I bent down to my crying baby and pulled a tissue out of my purse before cleaning off the small drops of blood.

The teacher looked at me with still a glare and said,

"I want you to leave." I was so close to punching her in the gut right then and there when someone came up behind me and said,

"Who treats a seven-year old child like that? You should be ashamed of yourself." I looked behind me and saw Eli standing behind me backing me up fully. He bent down and placed the beanie gently back atop Lily's head and kissed her head softly. She smiled weakly at him and whispered a thank you.

Eli stood back up and said,

"As I recall, you are not in charge of the whole school, Mrs. Atkins is. And from what I understand, Clare has a note from her giving full permission to Lily to wear any kind of hat she chooses until her hair grows back. Isn't that right, Clare?" I smiled and pulled the note out of my purse and shoved it into the teacher's chest and smirked.

"There, now if I hear you did anything to make Lily cry again or be any sort of mean to her again I will have your job so fast, you won't even be able to spit." She glared at me once more before going to the door to let the other students in. I bent down and hugged Lily tight, Eli did the same, and we let her go in.

At the bakery…

"What were you doing at the school, Eli?" I asked him curiously as he sat on the small metal stool eating frosting off a pink spatula.

"I know Lily's teacher, I know how big of a bitch she can be." I looked at him curiously and said,

"How do you know her?" He gave me a strange look and said,

"Are you kidding me, you know her too, Clare." I just gave him a blank stare and he said,

"That was Imogen."

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**Oh yes, I did. Enjoy the update, now the story for Eli really begins. Review if you want and update soon or at all :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**I need to rant a little before I start this chapter. Well yesterday I got these eye drops call "cooling comfort" so I was like. 'That's so cool!' anyways, I put them in my eyes and it felt like I was pouring straight gasoline into them. It hurt so badly and I couldn't see for like ten minutes after. **

**Okay now that I have ranted, I am happy to announce the next chapter! **

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Two weeks later; summer time.

After the Imogen thing, I pulled Lily out of school and had her finish up her year on the online courses. I wouldn't have anyone be mean to my baby. Not now, not ever.

It had been sometime since Lily had her surgery, and her hair was finally starting to grow back. But something strange happened and it grew back blonde. It was no longer curly, it was short blonde hair. It looked just like Jake's hair when he was younger.

While Lily was playing in her room, when I know she was supposed to be cleaning, I was drawing up some cake orders to be made in the next week. Every cake had intricate details, and must be top of the line. One mistake and it could ruin my business.

"Mommy?" Lily said to me as I finished drawing up a cake for a customer's records. I smiled at her and said,

"Yes, baby?" She just shook her head and said,

"Did you hear the doorbell?" I shook my head 'no' and got up from the table and to the front door. I peeked through the tiny hole and saw Imogen.

I didn't know why she would have the audacity to come here, but I knew I would have to eventually talk to her. She was Lily's teacher after all.

After contemplating it for a minute, I finally decided to open the door and see what she wanted.

"What do you want?" I said in a snide tone as I opened the door.

"I am only here to see Eli, we have plans for today." I looked at her shocked and said,

"Yeah right." I was about to shut the door when Eli came up from behind me and said,

"No she's right. We have plans." I looked at him a little hurt and gestured him out the door. Right then and there I wanted to cry.

One hour later… the bakery.

I decided to get my mind off from Eli and Imogen, and the only way I could think have how is by going to work on a few back orders I had to fill by Monday.

I decided to make a production line of cakes. I used to do this when I was in culinary school and it made things a little more interesting and fun.

I lined up the first tier of each cake; all five and began to frost them in record time. Simple buttercream went on each, and the fondant, and then decorations. It seemed simple enough, but if you didn't know what you were doing, you would easily get overwhelmed.

I was working on detail work on a special order when I heard the bakery door open. I stopped what I was doing and went to the front of the store.

"Hello." I said to the customer. He smiled at me and said,

"Hey, I need to order a cake for my sons second birthday." I smiled and gestured for him to go into the consultation room so we could discuss the details.

"So what does he like?" I asked the man as I got out my pad of paper and pens.

"He wants a galaxy cake. He is fascinated by the stars, so I think that would be perfect." I nodded and drew up sketches and showed him. He agreed and paid for his order.

When the man left I went back to decorating cakes. I was just finishing up when Eli came in.

"Hey." He said to me as he sat in his usual spot. I didn't look up because I knew the minute I did I would break down and cry.

"Hi." I whispered. He didn't say anything else, but I heard him come over to my work station and touch my arm. This time I looked up and he said,

"What's wrong, you look like you are about to cry." I shook my head and said,

"I am just upset about something. You don't need to worry about it." He didn't take that as an acceptable answer, and said,

"Please just tell me." I shook my head and shooed him away. He let out a sigh and walked back to his chair.

I was just cleaning up for the day when Eli spoke for the first time in twenty minutes.

"I am not dating her." I looked up at him and said,

"Um, okay." He shook his head and said,

"No it isn't okay. I know you are upset about Imogen, and the truth is, I just wanted to talk to her." I just nodded and went back to bleaching the work surface.

"Clare?" I looked up at him and said,

"What, Eli? I don't want to talk about this." He was about to walk off and go home, but turned around and said,

"I think you deserve to know something." I just gave him a blank stare, and he said,

"Technically I am married to Imogen."

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**Yes, I am leaving it off on that note. Finally we're getting a background on Eli! Enjoy! Review if you want an update soon or at all! :) **


	15. Chapter 15

**I don't own anything!**

**Hey guys! Has anyone seen, Degrassistar? She went missing for the last two or three chapters, so I'm concerned! Any who, I updated as promised. No need to climb walls or be like, 'What?' Now I shall reveal some of the truth. This chapter is a little slow, but next one will have some action. Hope you enjoy! Please review! :)**

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"What do you mean you're married to her?" I yelled at him after I let the shock wear off. He smirked at me and said,

"Gosh you really can't take a joke, can you?" I was about to kick him where the sun don't shine.

"Fuck you." I said as I walked into the bakery refrigerator. He followed me and said,

"Now that I have your attention, I have to tell you something legit." I just kept busy pretending to count boxes of fresh berries when he said,

"I am technically married, but defiantly not to Imogen." I turned around slightly and looked at him. He took that as a sign and started to speak again.

"Her name is Kelly. I met her after you and I broke up." I was on the verge of tears. This was the girl that replaced me.

I just stood in the cold fridge looking blank at the many boxes when I started to shiver. Eli walked behind me and rubbed my shoulders and said,

"Please let me explain." I really didn't want to hear this. It was hard enough knowing anything about his past, but knowing the actual truth is just unbearable.

"I don't need to know, that is your private life, not any of my business." I said as I walked out of his grip. I walked out of the fridge and into the stock supplies room to look for _something._ I really had no need to even stay at the bakery, but I just didn't want to go home. Eli lived there now and I just can't stand being around him; especially since we were together again. Not since we started to have sex.

Two hours later… at home.

I decided to just go home after a while and take care of Lily.

When I stepped inside the house, Lily and Eli were reading a chapter book together and Ali was cooking something. Eli had taken Lily home with him so I could keep working; or so he thought. Really all I was doing was crying in my office.

"Hi baby girl." I said to Lily as I kissed the top of her beanie gently.

"Hi mommy, guess what?" I sat in the vacant chair adjacent her and said,

"What?" She smiled wide and said,

"I got invited to a birthday party!" I smiled and asked,

"Whose birthday?" She smiled even bigger and said,

"Jason's. You silly goose." I laughed a little and walked over to his playpen and picked him up. He giggled a little and kicked his legs.

"How old are you going to be?" He giggled even more and gave me a slobbery kiss on the cheek before muttering two.

I put Jason back down and went into the kitchen to help Ali. I didn't even acknowledge Eli yet. I didn't want to see him or hear him talk. I was hurt beyond repair now.

"Hey, do you need help with dinner?" I asked Ali.

"Sure, can you cook the bacon?" I nodded and went to the stove and turned on the burner. I put the fatty bacon in the pan and let it sizzle while I turned around.

"So tell me about Jason's party." I said with as much excitement as I could muster up. She smiled and said,

"His daycare has this awesome room where the kids can play and eat. It has movies and a safety trampoline." I nodded and turned the bacon over.

"That sounds so exciting! How many kids are going to attend?" She just shrugged and said,

"He doesn't really know many people, so maybe like five or six." I nodded and said,

"That sounds perfect; you don't want too many two year olds terrorizing you all at once." She and I both shared a chuckle and went back to making a salad and cooking the bacon. It looked like we were having bacon chicken club sandwiches.

After the birthday party…

"So who wants cake!" I said to the few children who came back to the house for cake and gifts. The cake was too delicate to bring to the daycare center, so we invited all the kids and their parents to our house to finish the festivities there.

I was putting candles on the cake when I saw Lily come into the kitchen. She had a frown on her face and said,

"Mommy, I want a sibling." I looked at her astonished and said,

"Jason is just like your little brother, don't you love him?" She nodded and said,

"But I want a real sibling." I sighed and crouched down to her height.

"Honey, maybe someday you will have one, but mommy has to find the right guy first and we have to get married." She just nodded and said,

"Can I have some cake?" I laughed at her one-track mind and said,

"As soon as Jason has his first bite, and we sing him happy birthday. Then and only then, you may have a piece." She nodded and went back into the living room with the rest of the children.

I finished up in the kitchen and wheeled the cake out. Ali was holding Jason and he was clapping his hand happily while watching the cake glow from the flames.

"Happy birthday, Jason!" I said as everyone sang to him.

We cut the cake, and dished it out. I was about to dig into my piece when I heard the doorbell ring. Eli was about to get up to get it, but I beat him to it. I opened the door and saw a beautiful tall blonde woman. She smiled at me and said,

"Hey, I'm Kelly."

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**Yup, next chapter shall reveal some stuff. Enjoy the update! Review if you want an update soon or at all! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey guys, I didn't get even one review last chapter… made me a little sad. Do you guys not like this anymore? If not, just let me know and I will just stop writing this. I will write this chapter and hope for some reviews, but if I fail again then I will just discontinue. Thanks for reading. Please review.**

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"Hey, I'm Kelly." The woman said to me as she stood in the doorway. I gasped and shook a little. I looked over by the window and saw Eli starring at Lily and Jason fight over a toy truck. I wanted to smile, but with his wife here, I more felt like crying.

"Excuse me? Are you alright?" She asked me as I blankly starred into space. I felt like I was going to be sick, so I opened the door further and ran into the back bathroom.

I sat on the floor of the bathroom crying and dry heaving. My stomach felt like it was coming out of my ears. They rang and whole body was numb from sadness. She was so nice and pretty. No wonder Eli left me for her.

I cried and sobbed alone on the floor until I heard someone knock on the door. I didn't have enough strength to get up, so I just sat still hoping the person intruding would just go away.

A few seconds later and the person knocking just came in. I just starred at them and saw it was Eli. He looked at my condition of health and immediately went to the floor and pulled me into his lap. I didn't fight him on it because I felt like my emotions were fried. I felt like nothing was worth it anymore. I felt so dumb.

"Clare?" Eli said to me after a minute of rocking me back and forth. I looked up at him and he stroked my hair gently.

"Let me explain to you." I nodded a little and he said,

"Kelly was only here so I would sign the divorce papers. She is getting married again, and needs me to sign the papers. I never actually loved her; we only got married because she was pregnant." I felt my stomach tighten and bile go up my throat again.

"Clare?" Eli said just as I release throw up all over my front and Eli's lap. He didn't seem disgusted, but more saddened.

Eli got up off the floor and grabbed a towel. He wet it and cleaned up my shirt the best he could. He just took off his pants and put them on the vacant towel rack to stew.

"Eli?" I said to him in just above a whisper. He looked at me and gestured for me to continue.

"Are you in love with me?" He smiled and licked my cheek. I looked at him oddly and said,

"What was that for?" He grinned and said,

"I am so much in love with you; I don't know what I would do without you." I smiled a little and tried to stand up. I felt light headed and fell back onto the floor. Eli caught me and said,

"Is there something else wrong besides you not feeling well, Clare?" I shook my head and said,

"No, I mean I haven't been feeling good for a few days, but I just assume it is just nerves." He nodded and said,

"I think we should probably head back to the party before Ali has a panic attack with all those kids." I laughed and pointed to his bare legs and said,

"You need pants." He just smirked and said,

"I like being free. It's very liberating." I punched his arm and stood up. I was still feeling a little dizzy, but overall I felt better. I walked to the bathroom door and opened it and started to walk to the bedroom I shared with Eli. I grabbed him clean jeans and myself a clean shirt before heading back to the festivities.

Two days later… the bakery.

"So she was just there to get the papers signed?" Ali as me as she added ingredients to the raw cake batter.

"Yeah, she is getting remarried and needed to get divorced first." She just smiled and said,

"I'm glad you and Eli have at least made up. Well I think you have, your room is right next to mine and I certainly can hear some happy groans come from there the last few nights." I blushed a million shades of red and said,

"I don't know what you are talking about." She just shook her head and went over to the fondant bucket and started to roll out white and pink fondant.

Ali went on a delivery, and I was working on a Disney cake when the bakery bell dinged. I looked out the kitchen window and saw Kelly standing there. She had a small smile on her face as she looked at the pictures of the past cakes that hung on the walls. I felt my stomach clench again, but decided to go talk to her anyway.

"Hi." I said to her as she just stood there. She smiled and said,

"I feel like maybe we got off on the wrong foot a couple days ago. I wanted to come by and see if you were alright." I nodded and said,

"How did you know where I work?" She just smiled and said,

"My fiancé told me." I looked puzzled at her and said,

"Who are you engaged to?" She just smiled and said,

"Adam Torres."

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**This story is so much fun for me to write. Hope you guys review this chapter. Please enjoy. Review if you want an update soon or at all! :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Okay so I am obsessed with the song, 'Not over you' it is so good! I play the piano to the music sometimes. Okay now that I told you something random, I would like to say… Review! "If you ask me how I'm doing, I lie would say I'm doing just fine, I would lie and say that you're not on my mind. But I would go out and sit down at a table set for two and finally forced to face the truth…. Not over you." :)**

**Reviewers:**

**Thank you all, I know I put a lot of pressure on you to review, but it is only because it keeps me wanting to update; you know? Oh and The Cliffhanger Girl; I know you reviewed last chapter, or the one before, I just didn't look before I posted. My apologies! And for the rest of you, I love all your comments; they mean the world to me! Please keep the reviews coming!**

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Three weeks later…

After Kelly told me who she was engaged to, I felt a wave of shock rush over me, but overall I was happy Adam found someone so sweet. She and I had lunch a few times since then and she genially seemed to love him.

I was working on a cake in the bakery when I heard someone come in the back door. I assumed it was Ali, so I kept working. I looked up after a minute and saw Kelly standing there.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" I said to her. She just shrugged and sat down and grabbed a spoon of frosting.

"I just needed to get away from all the wedding planning and have some talk time with a real friend." I smiled and piped cherry blossoms on the cake while she talked.

"How is the wedding plans going anyway?" She shrugged. I knew something was bothering her, so I put down the bag of frosting and went to sit on the stool next to her.

"Tell me what's wrong." She looked away from me and said,

"I'm nervous." That seemed normal to me.

"Why are you nervous?" She just looked down and I knew something big was bothering her. I didn't know her very well, but I knew when she was truly upset.

"Please tell me." I heard her suck in a breath of air before saying,

"Adam and I have never had sex before, and you know…" I nodded and instantly knew. But what I didn't know is if he was done with his surgeries or not.

"Has he um…" I dint really know what to say, but she knew what I was say and she shook her head and said,

"Only the upped half of his body had been worked on." I nodded and said,

"Are you maybe going to use um…" I felt my face go a little red and I tried to choke out the words.

"Yes, I bought a toy, but I never really used one before, so I find it awkward doing it with him."

"He and you should feel comfortable enough around each other to talk about this. Does he know you got a toy?" She looked down and said,

"When I tried to tell him, he wasn't happy with me. He said I thought he wasn't man enough or something." Typical Adam.

"Don't worry about it; I think he is just nervous too." She and I talked a little more before she had to go home and make dinner.

The next week… home.

I was cleaning out the fridge when I felt two arms wrap around me. I giggled and said,

"Hey, Eli." He just sighed happily and said,

"God I love you." We hadn't said that yet to each other. At least not out loud. I just stood there, frozen.

"Clare?" Eli said to me, trying to get my attention. I just looked through him.

"I um…" he looked sad at me and nodded.

"I understand." He started to walk off.

"Eli waits!" I shouted after him. He walked upstairs to our bedroom and sat down on the bed. He looked like he was going to cry.

"I'm sorry." He said to me. I didn't know what to say to him, so I just sat next to him and rubbed his back soothingly.

Two days later… bakery.

"Will you make our cake, please?" Kate asked me. I nodded vigorously and said,

"Of course I will!" She smiled and hugged me tight before saying,

"Can you make one of those checker board cakes?" I nodded and said,

"Nothing has to be simple for you, does it?" She just laughed and dipped her finger in the liquid sugar. I laughed and wheeled a cake into the fridge.

When I came back to the decorating room I saw Kate looking closely at the sample book of cakes.

"DO you know what you want for colors?" She looked up at me startled a little and said,

"Well, Adam and I decided on black and white for the colors." I nodded and said,

"Sticking to the classics, that sounds amazing." She smiled and said,

"I hope this marriage works out." I nodded and said,

"You and Adam seem so perfect for each other. I know it will work out." She nodded and said,

"It was almost eight years ago today when it happened." I looked at her curiously and she sighed.

"What happened?" She choked out a sob and said,

"When I lost the baby. I was almost six months pregnant when the baby died." I felt my stomach clench and I said,

"How?" She said,

"It's a long story."

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**Next chapter will have what happened and possibly the wedding? We shall see! Please review if you want an update soon or at all! :) By the way, sorry this chapter is short, I am so tired and I wanted to make sure I updated like I always do. It is almost four a.m. so I am going to sleep now!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Don't own anything.**

**I don't want to keep this war up between me and my readers. I am sorry for the awful things I said. If you have to diss me, please don't call my baby "baby gas" I just don't need that. I would never kill myself, so please don't think that. I enjoy reading all of my reviews, constructive criticism or not. Please give me another chance to finish my story. Thanks you all. I will try to finish the story in the next chapter or two. Sorry for being an ass, please understand its hormones. Love you all. :)**

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At the bakery… two days later.

I was cutting out circles of cake for Kelly and Adam's wedding cake when the bakery phone rang. I picked up the headset and spoke,

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, Clare." I knew that voice anywhere.

"Hey, what's going on, Adam?" I heard Adam chuckle and say,

"Nothing, well actually…" I took a deep breath and said,

"Well actually, what?" I heard him suck in a breath of sharp air and finally said,

"I am going to have the surgery." I nearly dropped the frosting bag.

"What? The wedding is in two days!" I heard him laugh and said,

"Actually I already had it done, this is why I didn't let Kelly see me naked, and it was because I was healing from the whole procedure."

"When did you do this?" I said as I hopped on the counter so I could decorate the other side of the cake.

"Well, you remember when I went on that month long business trip? Well I had this done in Peru for cheap and they did a great job!" That was over two months ago, I am impressed.

"Oh my god, Adam she will be so happy!" I heard him laugh and say,

"Do you want to have dinner tonight so we can talk? I really miss you." I agreed immediately and hung up so I could finish the cake.

One hour later…

I was sitting in the bakery conference room when the phone rang again.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hey, I need a dozen cupcakes right away." I wrote down the order and how they needed to be decorated and told them they could pick them up in two hours.

End of the day…driving to the restaurant.

When I got to the restaurant I immediately saw Adam's blue mini cooper parked up front and him leaning against the back of it. He looked beyond amazing.

I parked and got out of my car and went to Adam. He smiled wide and we hugged each other tightly.

"It has been so long!" I said to him. He laughed and said,

"Yeah, not since Imogen and Fiona's disaster wedding." We both shared a laugh and linked arms while walking into the buffet restaurant.

When we both picked out our first course of food we sat down and chowed down. Adam smiled at me and said,

"So you know about Kelly then, eh?" I nodded but said,

"Well I know she and Eli were married, but she didn't get the chance to tell me what happened to the um…baby." Adam nodded with his mouth full of greens. He swallowed and said,

"Did you want to know?" I nodded fierce and said,

"Very much." Adam swallowed another bite and said,

"Well you know her and Eli had a drunken hook up, right?" I nodded even though I had no clue.

"Well when she was about six months along, Eli was working late and carbon monoxide gas broke out through the house while Kelly was sleeping. She didn't wake up, nor was she hurt. When Eli came home, he carried her out, but when they went to the hospital, the baby had absorbed the gas, and not her. Technically the baby saved her life." I felt my eyes tear up and I said,

"Why did she and Eli separate?" Adam looked down and said,

"Kelly and I were sort of going behind Eli's back. We fell in love the minute we met, but she was my best friend's girl." I saw where this was going and I touched his hand across the table and said,

"How long after her and Eli split did you guys get together?" Adam blushes and said,

"The next week." I looked a little shocked but understood immediately. I had pretty much done the same thing to Eli with Jake right after we split in high school.

After dinner, Adam and I said our goodbyes and I went home to rest for the remainder of the evening.

The next day…

I woke up early and went down to go make breakfast. When I came down stairs I saw something that would both break my heart and Adam's.

_Eli and Kelly kissing._

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**Short chapter, yes. Cliffy… because I wanted to. Review? If you want. I had a typo last chapter, its Kelly, not Kate, auto correct and me not proof reading equals that. Thanks for reading; next chapter will be up soon.**


	19. Chapter 19

**I miss some of my reviewers, please just come back. I won't talk about my personal life anymore. I do have a twitter and I do therapy every week since I was three. Hell I am going to online college for psychology. My husband is a doctor and I live a fairly simple life. I am young, a lot younger than you think. I would love to hear from you, if you don't have an actual account, tweet me, the link is on my profile. Please don't stop reading because of my hormones, I would really hate that. And please if you are going to dis me, go ahead, but don't call my son "baby gas" that is so hurtful. You will never know until you have a child of your own. Thanks, read on!**

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In the kitchen…

There they were, Eli and Kelly kissing. I walked closer to the kitchen and saw Eli push Kelly away and wipe his mouth. He yelled,

"What the hell!" Kelly looked down at the ground and said,

"I just wanted to see if there was anything left between you and me." Eli sighed and said,

"Kelly, you are about to marry my very best friend, you cannot go around kissing everyone." Kelly ran out of the kitchen with tears forming. She ran to the door and turned around when she noticed me. She looked at me with sadness and whispered, "Sorry" before leaving.

I went into the kitchen and saw Eli leaning against the fridge he looked like he was in a daze.

"Eli?" I said in a quiet tone. He looked at me and said,

"You saw, didn't you?" All I could do was nod. He looked down and said,

"She wanted to see if there was anything left between us. Today the papers for our divorce came through and she thought something, I don't even know what." I listened to him ramble on while I just stood there. I was hurt, but I didn't say anything.

After he finished talking, I started to walk away. If I was upset, I can only imagine how Adam must feel if he knew.

I got ready for work and decided to head to the bakery early. Even if I didn't want to, I had to at least finish Adam's and Kelly's cake.

At the bakery…

I got out a bucket of fondant and rolled it out. I added yellow and blue to it so the tier would be a subtle green. Adam loved green, so I wanted to make every tier a different color to represent their love.

As I was about to pipe on frosting details, I realized I was out of powdered sugar. I had to make the frosting from scratch, and that sugar was a main ingredient.

I looked once more in the stock room before heading off to the grocery store.

At the store…

I took my sweet time walking around the store looking at everything. I didn't really want to decorate today, so I just walked around aimlessly until I found the baking aisle. I looked around and made a face at all the box cake mixes. How can people buy that crap? Making it from scratch is simple and tastes a million times better.

I found the sugar and grabbed forty bags of it and piled it into the cart. I sighed and looked at my phone and saw I had a new text message.

It read: _Hey, can we please meet for lunch?_ It was from Eli.

I didn't really want to see him, let alone have a meal with that smug sun of a bitch. But I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and I replied,

_Sure, where? _It wasn't even a minute later until Eli replied and told me he would pick me up. I still had no clue where I was going for lunch, but I truly just didn't care at this point.

After what I saw this morning, I was in such a down mood; I don't think anything could cheer me up. Not until now at least.

I walked into the bakery and went to fill the front case with fresh pastries; I opened the case and piled in cannoli and lobster tails. I put in cakes and pies and cupcakes. I added cookies and bags of chocolate cereal with powdered sugar. When I finished with the case, the bell rang. I looked up and saw Cece. She smiled wide at me and said,

"Clare-bear!" I smiled and walked out from behind the counter. She and I embraced in a bone crushing hug before I asked,

"What are you doing here?" She just looked down at the ground and said,

"I need help, Clare." I told her to meet me in the conference room.

When I shut the door to the room and sat down across from Cece, I said,

"Now, what can I help you with?" She looked like she was about to cry, but said,

"We're about to lose our home, Clare." I looked at her shocked and said,

"Are you asking for financial support?" She let a tear slip and said,

"Well I don't want it for free; I can't even get a lone at the bank. Every damn place has either denied me a job or a loan." I sighed and said,

"I will give you a $20,000 advance and you will look after the kids and clean up the bakery." She let a huge smile cross her face before saying,

"Oh my god, Clare. Thank you so much!" I smiled with her and we hashed out the details before I wrote her a check and gave her a hand-made work schedule.

After Cece left, I went into the baking room and checked on our stock. I caught a smell of something and ran to the nearest garbage can. I threw up the contents of my stomach and immediately the thought crossed my mind. _Am I pregnant?_

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**Thanks for reading. I just love cliff hangers, and Cece is now a part of the story, next chapter will have a lot more. The wedding however won't happen for another chapter or two or at all. Please review if you want an update soon or at all :)**

**Oh, why are you sick of this? Degrassistar?**


	20. Chapter 20

**Don't own anything!**

**What? An imposter? So confused right about now. Any who, I didn't think that was you; you're way too sweet to ever say you're sick of my story. **

**Whoever "Bleh" is, I didn't start a fucking war. Don't put words in my mouth or assume, all it does is make you look like a complete ass. And a "Classic" um, no. I cried for hours yesterday because of what you said and many others. If you don't like the story, don't read it. It is as simple as that.**

**Okay so this chapter is a big one, hold onto your seat children, it's going to be a bumpy ride! Read on!**

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Flashback: eight years and seven months ago.

_I was sitting on the edge of the tub looking at the little pink plus sign. I smiled to myself and thought of how great it was going to be. I wanted to be a mommy ever since I got married, and now is my chance._

_I got up off the tub, cleaned up my test mess and walked to my bedroom. I was about to open it when I heard a noise. I looked at the door and jiggled the knob; it was locked. I looked at it curiously, but decided to just use the key above the doorway. _

_I took the key and turned it and opened the door. I walked inside and saw something horrid. There on the bed was Jake and Jenna completely naked fucking doggy style on my bed. I busted out of the room and out of the house crying; not looking back. I ran next door and knocked. My neighbor at the time was this sweet couple who were older than us, but going through similar things._

_They let me in and sat me down. I pulled my knees to my chest and sobbed harder than ever. When I finally told them what happened, the man had a look of fury on his face and was about to go beat down Jake for doing this to me._

_I didn't let him. I did however stay with Jake for a few more years, no sex, no touching, I was only with him for the insurance. When I finally got enough saved and the bakery was doing well, I divorced Jake and took Lily with me. He was still messing around with Jenna, so he had no objections of me taking the little "brat" with me._

End of flashback…

I sat on the bakery counter and looked down at my legs. I thought for a minute and eventually said out loud but to myself,

"I forgot to get my birth control shot." That was it; whenever Eli and I got intimate we hardly ever used a condom. Now I feel bloated and sick.

I walked to the bakery front window and looked out. I looked at the digital calendar on the wall and realized I haven't had a period in nearly two months. With depo I hardly ever had a period, but I usually had some sort of spotting every month. These last two months I had no such thing.

I locked up the bakery and walked across the road to the nearest drug store. I shakily walked in and went to the feminine care aisle. I looked at all my selection choices and picked the EPT test. I didn't know which one was most accurate, but from what I heard from many people, this was the most accurate so far on the market.

At home…

I walked quietly into the house and looked around. It looked like everyone was either in the kitchen or out. Lily was with Ali, and Jason was asleep on the couch. Eli was nowhere to be found, and I was grateful for that.

I walked quietly into the guest bathroom down stairs and shut the door. There was only a sink and a toilet in here. I followed the instructions for the test and placed the soiled stick on the counter on top of a tissue. I looked at my phone and waited three minutes.

_Please be negative. Please just be negative._

_1…_

_2…_

_3…_

It was finally three minutes, and time to look at my future. I looked down at the stick and saw my nightmare come true, I was indeed pregnant.

I sat there starring at the pink plus sign and thought of all my options. At one point I didn't believe in abortion, but now I think if the situation is right I could very well have one. My life was just getting on track, no one had to know. This could be just my secret, no one else's. All these horrible thoughts went through my mind as I contemplated everything. Finally after thinking for a little while I heard the door to the tiny bathroom creek open and in came Adam. I looked at him oddly, and he squeezed in and shut the door behind him. He clicked the lock and sat on the counter.

"I know what happened with Eli and Kelly." I just nodded and said,

"How did you know I was in here?" He looked at me and said,

"It was just a guess. You have always disappeared in the bathroom when you are upset about something. So spill it, because I know it's not just Eli and Kelly." I was about to burst into tears, so I just pointed to the garbage can. Adam looked down and saw my fate.

"You're pregnant?" He said astonished.

"Yeah." I muttered. He got off the counter and pulled me up and hugged me. I let a tear fall and I said,

"I think I want to get an abortion." Adam let go of me immediately and said,

"But Clare…y-you can't do that." I knew that it was wrong.

"My family and life is finally going ok. Lily is growing up; I own a successful business and a nice home. Why would I want to mess that up with an unwanted pregnancy?" Adam sighed and said,

"I have a proposition for you." I looked at him with wondering eyes and said,

"Go on…" he took a deep breath and said

"If Kelly and I do actually get over this bump in the road, you know we can't have kids on our own, so if you're willing, maybe you could go through with the pregnancy and let me and Kelly legally adopt the little him or her." I felt tears fall and I said,

"I will have to think about it."

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**Degrassistar, I can't believe someone did that to you! That is so irritating, because I was like "I thought you loved this story!" But now that I know, I feel a little better. Maybe you should create a real account because I have been getting really mean anon reviews, but I don't want to make it so you can't review anymore. So think about it at least. **

**As for the rest of you, review if you want an update soon or at all :)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Okay so I am going to finish this story and post often still. I disabled anon reviews, so if you have the balls to diss me, do it on a registered account. As for Degrassistar, please get an account! I love to hear your feedback :) **

**Back to regular account now! Thanks for the reviews!**

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Two weeks later… Bakery.

"So this is the display cake and this is the actual cake?" Lily asked me as she looked at the two wedding cakes. I smiled and said,

"Yes, the Styrofoam cake is for decoration and the actual cake is for people to eat but not dry out while people dance and party." She looked at me again and said,

"Mommy, is the baby in your tummy daddy's too?" I bent down to her level and shook my head.

"Sweetie, daddy and I aren't together anymore, and we never will be again. This baby…" I put her hand on my stomach and spoke again, "This baby is mine and Eli's and he or she is going to be your little sibling." She smiled and said,

"Are you going to marry Eli?" I sighed and said,

"I don't know, I mean we just got over the shock of having a baby, I don't think a wedding is the best thing right now." She just nodded and went over to her mini table and decorated cookies.

I had decided to turn down Adam's offer of adopting my baby and keep it. I had finally told Eli and he was so happy about the baby. I was happy too, but a little sad all in one.

Kelly and Adam made up and we all talk it over and just realized she had no more feelings for Eli, nor did she ever really love him. She just wanted to feel something familiar from the past before entering a new life journey. Adam is her soul mate; they make each other complete pure love.

One hour later…

I was finishing up when the phone rang. I got up from my stool and went into the office to get the phone.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hey, it's Fiona, I was wondering if you wanted to go have lunch today." I looked at the clock and saw it was one already. My stomach growled a little.

"Yeah, that sounds great. I have Lily with me, is it okay if she comes?" I heard Fiona giggle and say,

"You better be brining my favorite niece!" I laughed and agreed to meet her up at this new vegetarian restaurant across town. Since I got pregnant I was trying to eat as healthy as possible, so Fiona recommends the best.

Twenty minutes later… Restaurant.

I pulled into the restaurant with my normal car instead of the delivery van. I parked up front and Lily and I walked to the door. I looked in the restaurant and saw how elegant and healthy it was. It just had the vibe of health, not the smell of greasy food, but the smell of fresh salads and broccoli tarts. It made my stomach growl louder.

Lily pointed to my tummy and said "Mommy, I think the baby is talking." I laughed and said,

"I think we need to eat to make them quiet again." When the hostess got to us, she asked if I was meeting a party there or if it would just be the two of us. I told her we were meeting Fiona and she said,

"Ah yes, she is actually sitting on the deck outside. Let me take you there and get you a drink, ma'am and little ma'am." Lily giggled and walked closely behind the hostess.

When we ordered our drinks, I looked at Fiona and noticed something about her.

"You have an engagement ring!" She giggled and said,

"Yes! I found my one, and she right under my nose this whole time." I looked at her strangely and she said,

"Holly J. She and I always had this weird relationship, but never romantic. Well when she last comes to visit, things just heated up and before I knew it we were planning our lives together." I smiled extremely wide and said,

"I knew she was a smart girl to fall in love with you!" Fiona both got up and hugged over the table while Lily colored on the paper table cloth.

After we chatted more about Fiona and Holly J's wedding, Fiona said,

"So I hear there is a little one on the way!" I laughed and said,

"Yes! I am expecting, go figure?" We both just smiled and I sneaked a peek at Lily and saw her drawing a heart with the name, 'Tyler' in it. I looked at Fiona and motioned for her to look as well. She smiled and I said in Lily's ear,

"Does my baby have a _boyfriend?"_ She turned bright red and said,

"No." Fiona and I both giggled at her and let her do her thing while we caught up.

After we both finished out avocado and veggie dip and pepper sandwich, Fiona and I said our goodbyes and I went back to the bakery and she went home. We made plans to meet up again soon so I could see Holly J again and I could help them plan the wedding if needed or wanted.

Four months and two weeks later… in the bathroom.

"Hello? Can someone come help me?" I shouted from sitting on the toilet. I was almost six months pregnant now and the baby was huge already.

"Please! I can't get up!" I heard the door crack open slightly and Holly J peeked in. She covered her eyes and said,

"Fiona went to the car to make a call, and I heard you yelling… I didn't know if I should come or not, but I just…" I cut her off and said,

"Please just come in and help me off this damn pot!" We both laughed and she grabbed both my arms and pulled me forward while keeping me from falling forward.

"Thank you so much!" I said to her. She smiled and said,

"I guess it was a good thing we came over today to make the final wedding plans, huh?" I laughed and pulled up my stretchy pants and nodded.

"I'm glad too. And I am also glad you and I have become actual friends, even if we didn't really know each other very well in high school, I knew you were a good person and class president." She tiered up a little and said,

"Thank you, Clare." We smiled; I washed my hands and hugged her after I was clean.

We were about to exit the bathroom when I heard Fiona come up the stairs and say,

"Should I be concerned?" She was obviously teasing so I said,

"Defiantly, I and Holly J are in love." We all laughed and went back down to finish the plans.

That night, nine p.m.:

When Eli got home from his parents' house, I was sitting on the couch balancing a soda can on my tummy. He smiled at me and said,

"God you're beautiful." I blushed and the soda fell and got all over me. Eli rushed over and grabbed the blanket from the edge of the couch and tried to soak up my drenched belly. I laughed and kissed his lips while he was bent over. We both looked at each other and I got up and took off my shirt. Eli kissed me harder and picked me up bridal style and started towards the stairs. I giggled as we made it to the third step up. I heard Lily scream and immediately Eli put me down to go see what was wrong.

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**Please let me know what you think. :)**


	22. Chapter 22

**I don't own anything.**

**I'm so sick, so this isn't a long chapter. I think being pregnant and having the flu is probably the worst I have ever felt! I am so exhausted so after I finish this chapter I will go to bed. Just typing is a little too much for me, but I feel obligated. They unlocked my account after I bitched long enough, so I can post here again! I'm cheering silently in my head… alone. Any who, I think this story is slowly coming to a close. Let me know if you want an update soon or at all. Thanks :)**

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"Help!" We heard Lily call from her bedroom. Eli went running and I trotted as fast as I could after him. When we reached her room, she was sitting on her bed shaking while there was a man in the corner coming after her. Eli turned on the light and instantly we came face to face with Jake.

"What are you doing?" I shouted as I came over to Lily. I tried to usher her out of the room, but she was frozen with shock.

"I came to get my daughter and take back all that is mine." He said in a grossly tone. He looked at me direct in the eye and I was about to speak when Eli came over to Jake and punched him square in the face. Jake fell backwards and hit his head on the window seal being knocked out clean.

Eli came running over to us on the bed and immediately asked if Lily was ok.

"Did he hurt you? How did he get in?" All the questions came out like a flood and I felt even though they weren't directed towards me, it felt like I was the one being interrogated.

"Eli, calm down. I am going to go call the police, but what I don't understand is how he got here, I thought he had a life sentence."

Eli stayed in the room with Lily while I went to call the police. I dialed and told them what happened. It turned out they had a breach in security and some of the convicts escaped yesterday afternoon. They had found four out of five of them. Two of which they found dead. Jake was number five, and they immediately sent over squad cars and the local swat team to take him down just in case.

Three weeks later… the bakery.

"So Jake is back in jail, but in solitary confinement?" Ali asked me as we both iced a huge colossal cake.

"Yeah, he will finish out his sentence there. There aren't any windows or any way to break out." Ali nodded and picked up a plate of fondant flowers and stuck some on the side of the cake.

"This cake is going to be the death of me! We have redone it three times and so far we haven't gotten it right!" I laughed and said,

"Ali this cake if for the mayor, to show our gratitude for him taking care of the Jake situation so fast, we must get it right." She sighed and went over to the table and got another plate of decorations.

When we finished with the cake, we both took a step backwards and looked at the masterpiece.

"Well, I think this is the best cake so far!" I said as I went to go fetch a cart so we could wheel it into the fridge to make sure it didn't melt in this heat.

When we put the cake away, I went to the computer to type up the forms for the Hawaiian cake. The mayor loved going to Hawaii every summer, so we decided and the rest of the city thought it would be idea to make a large Tiki hut cake with Hawaiian flowers and flame coming out of the statues on it. The cake was by far our best in a long time.

Two weeks later… The doctor's office.

"So Clare, Eli would you like to know the genders of your babies?" I was about to speak when I suddenly Eli choked on his coffee.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" I asked his while patting his back gently. He coughed more and pointed towards the screen where it flickered from the heart beats.

"Babies?" He finally coughed out the words. The doctor nodded and said,

"Congratulations, you're having twins!" I shrieked with excitement and hugged her and hugged Eli before saying,

"What are we having? Two boys? Two girls?" I asked full of excitement.

"You're having one of each! Congrats guys." She wrote a few things on my chart and then wrote me strict instructions for the remaining three months of my pregnancy. I smiled and took the paper she wrote up and said,

"Thanks so much, Doc!" Eli smiled but didn't utter a word. We both left the office hand in hand. We didn't really speak until we were in the comfort of the car.

"Clare?" Eli said to me as I stared down at the bulge of my belly. I looked at him with teary eyes and said,

"I don't know how we are going to do this. You and I aren't even married." Eli smiled at me and reached in his coat pocket. He pulled a small brown and white box and said,

"I've just been waiting for the right time to do this is all..." When he opened the box, I looked down in utter shock.

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**Updated! Not much to say, I put anon reviews back on, so let me know. I am really sick, so I'm going to bed. Thanks :)**


	23. Chapter 23

**I don't own anything!**

**Well I am not much better, but I feel up to writing today! I wrote a new story, a series of one-shots actually. It's called **_**Milestone **_**so please check it out and let me know!**

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**On another note, I saw this documentary today and it broke my heart. It was about teens going to a camp to make them stray away from being gay. A religious thing I guess. I am appalled by that. People shouldn't be judged. My best friend watched it with me, and her girlfriend just died and she was crying and shaking by the end. I am bi sexual also and grateful to have accepting parents and friends. Why can't everyone be accepting like that? Any who, please don't judge people for being who they are, they are born that way, not by choice, but by nature. **

**Thanks for reading! Please review if you want an update soon or at all! :)**

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"Clare, I love you so much, I have been waiting to do this…" Eli took a deep breath before turning back to me, "Will you do me the honors of being my wife?" I swear my face glowed at that moment. I looked down at the ring and I felt my eyes well up, I looked up at Eli and I said,

"Yes! A million times, yes!" Eli grabbed me and kissed me on the lips and he even cried too.

Eli drove home with our hands entwined, every few seconds I would look over at him, and then back down at my shining diamond. It was beautiful, a simple diamond with a platinum band. It was perfect for my tastes.

The next day… in the grocery store.

Eli decided to go hang out with Adam today and since we had no cake orders right now that had to be filled immediately, I decided to go grocery shop and make a special dinner for tonight.

I reached the produce department and picked up a pack of fresh carrots, tomatoes and squash. I looked around at the rest of the department searching for radishes when someone grabbed my shoulder. I turned around quickly and saw who it was.

"Fiona!" I screamed as I hugged her. She smiled wide and pointed towards my growing belly.

"Last time we saw each other, you didn't have this." She poked my belly gently and the babies kicked. Fiona's face turned white and she said,

"Oh god, I hurt it!" I chuckled and said,

"No they are just glad to meet their aunt." She smiled and looked at me and said,

"So how have you been?" I was about to tell her when I came up with another option.

"How about we go grab some lunch and I will tell you everything." She smiled and nodded.

I paid for all my groceries and a few extra things I picked up at the check stand and we were on our way. Fiona walked to the grocery store since her office was across the street, so we climbed into my car and took off to a local 'everything' restaurant.

At the restaurant…

Fiona and I were seated and she ordered dinosaur chicken nuggets and I ordered macaroni and cheese. We decided to be silly and order kids food.

"So tell me, whose baby is this?" She said in an accusing tone. I looked down and rubbed my bulging bump and said,

"Well they are Eli's." Fiona looked at me and said,

"You're having twins?" I smiled and nodded. Before I could tell her what they were, the waiter brought over our food.

We ate in silence for a minute until Fiona said,

"What are they?" I looked up at her and said,

"A little _Fiona and Declan_." She smiled wide and said,

"Oh my god! You're having a boy and girl! I am so excited! What are you going to name them?" I took in her loud voice and said,

"We don't know yet, we just found out yesterday we were having twins." She smiled and went back to dunking her nuggets in a tub of ketchup before grabbing my hand and saying,

"Oh my god is that an engagement ring!" She had the whole restaurant looking at us at that point.

"Yes, Eli asked me last night!" I said not caring who was staring at us. She got up from her seat and ran to the other side of the table and engulfed me in a gentle but meaningful hug. I giggled and said,

"Now tell me how everything with you is going? Have you met anyone new lately?" Fiona went back to her side of the table and blushed slightly.

"I did meet someone new." I looked up at her telling her to continue. She blushed more and said,

"Her name is Holly J." I chuckled and said,

"That's not someone new! That's your high school crush!" Fiona laughed with me and said,

"Well she and I moved in together. We ran into each other while at a convention and we just rekindled an old flame I guess." I looked at her curiously and said,

"I didn't know you two ever actually dated." She looked down and said,

"We were private about it; she was still with Declan when we started sneaking around." I nodded and we finished eating. I gave Fiona another hug and told her to come over for dinner later this week and to bring Holly J.

When we departed, I dropped her off at her office, and I went back home to cook dinner for everyone.

At home… the kitchen.

I was stirring the deep frying veggies when I saw Lily come into the kitchen. She looked at me and said,

"I don't want Eli to be my new daddy."

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**Well, that was a shocker if you ask me! Please let me know what you think :) **


	24. Chapter 24

**I don't own anything!**

**Well you guys, I am feeling good again! Here is the next chapter! Be prepared for some action… yeah. I am hoping this one is good, I am trying to either end this story or maybe even extend it to even longer than expected, let me know what you guys want. If you have suggestions, let me know!**

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In the kitchen… (Same day)

"What do you mean you don't want Eli to be your new daddy?" I asked Lily as I bent down to her level. She just shook her head and said,

"I already have a daddy, he may be a bad guy, but he is still my flesh and blood." I sighed and hugged her gently and I said,

"He would never take your dad's place, he is just going to be you step dad." She looked up at me, now tears free falling from her crystal eyes.

"Why does my own dad hate me so much?" She took off out of the kitchen and into her room. Soft sobs followed.

As Lily ran, I went back to the stove and shut off the burner and ran after her. How could she think that? Her dad doesn't hate her; he is just a horrible person, point blank.

I got up to Lily's room, but when I got to the door I noticed someone already in there. I peeked in and saw Eli bent down in front of her and he was saying,

"Lily, I never want to take Jake's place, I just want to help take care of you and your mommy is all. I love you guys." Lily looked up at him with teary eyes and said,

"Promise you won't abandon me like daddy did?" Eli engulfed the little girl in a hug before whispering,

"I will never leave you or your mommy ever again."

I guess things must have worked out because the next minute Lily came running out of her room to find me. I was still standing in the hall, so she crashed into me and hugged my waist. I looked down at her and said,

"I love you baby." She smiled bright and said,

"Eli is going to be a good new daddy for me." I nodded and brushed my hand through her soft curls before exiting to finish dinner.

Two days later… the bakery.

Earlier today Fiona called and asked if tonight was a good night to bring over Holly J and herself for dinner. I was feeling a little under the weather, but I said it was a perfect night nonetheless.

I was sitting in my desk chair of the bakery going over invoices when the bell of the bakery rang. I wobbled out of my seat and went to the front to see who it was. To my surprise it was Holly J. She had a smile on her face and said,

"Oh gosh it sure is great to see you again, Edwards." I smiled and said,

"It's great to see you too! What are you doing at the bakery?" She smiled and said,

"Well Fiona said we were going to have dinner at your house, and I was wondering if there was anything I could bring?" I smiled a little and shook my head 'no'.

Holly J. smiled and looked down. I was about to say something when I felt a sharp pain course through my entire body. I yelped in pain and grabbed the counter to keep myself from falling. Holly J. rushed across the counter to help me as she called for help. All I could think have was, 'no it's too soon!'

The paramedics came ten minutes later and rushed me to the hospital. I am only six months along, so this is just not right, something is seriously wrong.

When we got to the hospital, they rushed me to labor and delivery and Holly J was left to call Eli and everyone since she rode along in the ambulance, crying with me.

I got in the back and the female head of the department checked me over, she came out the examination room and said,

"Well it looks like you went into early labor, but luckily your water didn't break, so we were able to stop the contractions with the I.V. but you will be on strict bed rest for the remaining 3 months, okay?" I nodded and cried a little to myself.

An hour later… my hospital bed.

They kept me to make sure I wouldn't go back into labor, so while I waited for Eli to come, Holly J sat in my room with me. She sat in the chair next to my bed and she just stared at me. Eventually I gave up and said,

"Is there something you need Holly J?" She looked at me and said,

"I am just glad you are Ok is all. I know how much Fiona cares about you and all." I smiled and grabbed her hand and gave it squeezes until the door to my room came busting open. In came Eli, Lily, Ali and Jason.

I sat up the best I could and Eli came to my side and said,

"What happened? I got a call from Holly J of all people to tell me my fiancé is in labor!" I giggled at his frantic words and said,

"Eli calm down, I did go into labor but it is under control. I just have to take a break from the bakery for a few months until I deliver the babies." Eli let out a breath he had been holding and said,

"Oh thank god." He turned to Holly J and engulfed her in a bone crushing hug. She was taken back but hugged him nonetheless. I smiled and looked over at Lily. She ran over to me and jumped on my small bed and climbed over to my side and snuggled close to my bump. She nudged her head like a cat and looked up at me. She smiled and whispered into my belly and said,

"I hope my baby brother and sister are Ok." I saw tears form in her little eyes and she kissed my tummy before getting off the bed. She walked over to Eli and he hugged onto her like there was no tomorrow. It was amazing to see the bond between them had grown.

One hour later…

I was sitting in my room alone while Eli took Lily and the crew home so they didn't have to be trapped at the hospital. Everyone had visited me until I realized something. I quickly grabbed my bag from the adjacent chair and looked at my phone. It said I had twenty missed calls and fifteen texts. Then it dawned on me, we forgot Fiona!

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**Well guys, not much of a cliffy this time. But I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter nonetheless! I am feeling much better! Thank you all for your sweet words and concern! I am working on **_**Milestones **_**and the next chapter of that will be up soon!**

**Oh I have amazing news! My daughter Aphrodite took her first step last night! Her daddy and I were sitting on the couch talking about our custody and work and she was playing on her carpeted area in the center of the room. Me and her dad looked over and saw her stand up and take two tiny steps before toppling over. It was magical to say the least. **

**Okay thanks for reading! Please review if you want and update soon or at all :)**


	25. Chapter 25

**I don't own anything!**

**Okay you guys this chapter is a little slow, but it is leading up to more stuff. I decided to make this story as long as possible, I love writing it, so I decided to just go with the flow until it comes to an end naturally and possibly post a sequel. Time can only tell how long this story will be though. Well hope you guys enjoy, please review and tell me what you think :)**

* * *

Two weeks later… home.

"So Fiona, do you want to come over for dinner tonight? I can cook a big feast and …" I was in the middle of speaking on the phone when she interrupted me and said,

"Don't you dare, Clare, I will cook a huge meal! You are to stay rested in that lush bed of yours!" I giggled at her persistence and said,

"Fine, but I still feel terrible about the other week everyone forgetting to call you up." Fiona only chuckled and said,

"It's fine, really. Hell, when Holly J got home she told me everything and I understood how anyone could forget to give me call." I sighed and said,

"Well I still am sorry. So what time are you coming over tonight?" Fiona stayed quiet for a minute and said,

"Um, how about I come over now and start cooking?" I laughed and agreed. After we said our goodbyes, she said she would be over in an hour because she had to stop at the grocery store first. She said dinner was a surprise and to not worry.

One hour later… kitchen.

Fiona finally got here and she just let herself in. She went into the kitchen and set down all her bags and went upstairs to check on me. I wasn't in bed though; I was taking a hot bath to relieve some of the pain in my aching back. Fiona knocked gently on the bathroom door and said,

"Clare, are you alright? Can I come in?" I chuckled and said,

"Of course you can come in! I have bubbles covering my parts." Fiona cracked the door open a little and peeked her head in a little before entering the room fully. She smiled a little at me and said,

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay in here before I got down and dirty with dinner." I smiled and rubbed my tummy, getting it covered in suds.

"I am just fine, now get to dinner, I am starving!" Fiona chuckled and walked out the door and gave me the bird before shutting the door fully. God it was good to have my good friend back here; I missed her.

While Fiona was cooking, I finished my bath and went to sit in bed. I turned on the TV and channel surfed until there was yet another knock on my door. I yelled for them to come in, and I turned the TV on mute.

"Hey, Clare." Ali said to me. Her clothes covered in flour and dried fondant. I smiled at her and gestured for her to come in.

"So how are things going at the bakery?" She sighed and body dived onto the bed; getting everything filthy in the process.

"It has been Ok. I miss you though, I am struggling to get everything done, and one baker just isn't enough for how popular our bakery is." I looked at her and said,

"Do you want to hire a new baker maybe?" Ali's head shot up from its position on my bed and said,

"I don't want anyone to replace you." I shook my head a little and said,

"They will only be temporary, maybe like six months at most." She just nodded a little and said,

"Who do you suggest we hire?" I thought for a second before sitting up on the bed a little and shouting down stairs gaining Fiona's attention. She came running up and said,

"What? Are you alright?" I laughed at her attire and said,

"I just wanted to ask you a question." Fiona let out a long sigh and gestured for me to continue.

"Well, is Holly J still looking for a part time job to help pay off her school loans?" Fiona nodded and said,

"Yeah, she isn't having any luck though, why?"

"We need a temporary baker at the shop; do you think she would be interested?" Fiona smiled wide and said,

"Oh my god, yes! I will go call her to come over right away to tell her the news! Thank you so much!" We all smiled and she ran off to go do her thing.

Four days later… doctor's office.

"Alright, Clare it looks like you are doing much better now. You however still need constant bed rest." I nodded and grabbed onto Eli's hand and continued listening to the doctor talk about what I need to do.

When all was said and done, Eli and walked out of the office and immediately I sat in the car and Eli drove us home.

When we finally got there, Eli carried me inside and told me to take a nap. When he finally left the room to go check on the kids and Ali, I got up out of the bed and looked down at my bump in the full length mirror. I was huge! When I was pregnant with Lily, I didn't even come near to this big.

I sat back down on the bed and reached over to my bed side table and grabbed my baby book full of names. I randomly opened it to the boy section and closed my eyes. I stuck my finger on the page and slowly opened my eyes. I looked at the page and saw the name I had chosen,

"Ben." I said to my stomach. I looked at the bump and rubbed it gently thinking about the name and decided I liked the name. I smiled to myself and put the book back down deciding to choose a girl's name later with help of Lily and Eli.

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**Well there you have it! No huge cliffy, but I do have a few things in mind for the next chapter, and to be honest there are going to be some twists soon. I love leaving it off on a twist, but this time I didn't feel the need or reason too! Well its 11p.m. while I am writing this and I am exhausted, so I am going to bed! Please review if you would like an update soon or at all :)**


	26. Chapter 26

**I don't own anything!**

**This chapter is intense; I am not even going to lie. The end of it is where most of it will take place; sort of a gateway to many more things to come, but that will be up to you guys. No one reviewed last chapter, so I am starting to get worried no one likes this anymore… if you guys want an update soon or at all please review :) thanks you guys, you all are awesome. Oh and don't forget to check out my other story of one-shots, **_**Milestones.**_

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Three weeks later… the bakery.

I got so bored sitting in that damn bed all day for three weeks straight so when Eli left the house to take the kids to the park, I took a cab to the bakery, so I could see how Holly J and Ali were getting along. God knows how well that could turn out; or how bad.

When I got there, I paid the taxi driver and I waddled inside trying to be discreet about it. When I opened the door, the stupid bell went off and Ali came rushing out. She had flour smeared on her cheek and her hands were covered in food coloring. When she saw me, she rushed over to me and said,

"What the hell are you doing here, Clare?" I smiled a little and said,

"I needed to get out of that damn house; I needed to do something, anything!" Ali let out a sigh and said,

"Clare you need to go home, you are putting yourself and those beautiful babies of yours in harm's way so you don't feel bored." I guess Holly J heard the commotion because she came waltzing out in her stylish pink and black chef coat. She smiled at me and then frowned when she realized I wasn't supposed to be here. She went back into the back and came out a few seconds later with a rolling computer chair. She rolled it over to me and said,

"Sit down right now before I call Fiona!" I laughed a little and said,

"Fine, thanks for the concern Holly J." She smiled and turned to Ali and said,

"Would you mind if I talk to Clare for a minute?" Ali nodded and went back into the back of the shop to finish whatever she was working on.

When Ali was gone, Holly J sat down on the counter and looked at me for a second before saying,

"Clare, I have to ask you for some help with something." I nodded; glad I could help her out since she helped me when I was in trouble with the babies.

"Of course, I will try my best to help you out." She nodded and said,

"I am going to propose to Fiona tomorrow, and I was wondering of you could help me pick out a ring." I smiled wide and said,

"Oh my god, Holly J! I would be honored to do that!" She smiled wide and walked over to give me a gentle hug before saying,

"I have a wheelchair in my car, so you don't have to walk at all, and we can go to the jewelry store during my lunch hour?" I nodded and said,

"Of course! That would be great!" I looked up at the clock in the middle of room and saw it was almost noon. I sat down further in the chair and heard Holly J say,

"Actually, I am going to go ask Ali if I can head out now so I can drop you off and get some food." I laughed at her plan and nodded as she walked into the back. I heard Ali say,

"Whatever." And out came Holly J with her purse and huge sunglasses. She helped me stand up and we walked to her car.

That evening… home.

"What the hell, Clare! Why did you go out? You know it could hurt the babies!" I felt tears well up in my eyes and Eli immediately felt bad for yelling at me. He sat down next to me on our bed and rubbed my back soothingly. We stayed quiet for a few minutes until he finally said,

"I just don't want the babies to be anymore distressed than they already are; that's all." I nodded and said,

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to go into the bakery, and I miss working. Sitting here all day is killing me and I just wanted to get out and see how everything was going is all." Eli nodded and kissed my cheek before getting up and walking out of the room. He heard Jason crying and went to go check up on him before it was bath time for both the children.

I decided to just lie down and read a little before bed. I was flipping through my 'mommy expecting' book when the door opened yet again and this time it was Ali. She looked at me with a stern look and said,

"Clare, I think we need to talk." I nodded and patted the bed for her to sit. She sighed and came over to me and sat down. She was quiet and hesitated for a minute before finally saying,

"Clare, you know I love you, right?" I nodded yet again and said,

"Of course I do!" She smiled a little and said,

"But I feel like since your own family is growing and you are getting married soon with twin on the way, I think I should move out." I gasped at her sudden decision and said,

"What? No please don't go!" She sighed and said,

"You will need my room for the twins and I feel like maybe I should give Dave another chance." I felt myself start to tear up and I said in a raspy voice,

"Fine, just go." She tried to grab my hand to comfort me, but I pulled away and faced the wall. She took that as a sign to go, and she got up and left the room to go pack up her own room.

I laid there crying for a few minutes until I felt a gush of water explode between my legs. I looked down and saw my water had broken. I screamed and yelled,

"Help! This can't be happening I still have two more months!" And with all my energy I tried to get to phone, only to slip on my own water and fall to the floor, shaking and crying.

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**Well what do you guys think? This chapter is a gate to many new plot lines for all the characters in the story! I hope you guys enjoyed, no one reviewed the last chapter, so I am a little skeptical about this story now. But if you want an update, please review! Thank you all :)**


	27. Chapter 27

**I don't own anything!**

**Hey guys! This chapter is a huge time leap, so please bear with me! I hope you enjoy! Review if you want an update soon or at all :)**

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"Help! Please someone help me!" I shouted as I rolled on the floor in my water and my body surging in pain. My voice was hoarse and it didn't come out too loud.

I laid there for a few minutes until Lily came waltzing in. She had a lollipop in her mouth and was popping it in and out until she saw me withering around. She dropped her sucker and ran out of the room. I heard her shout for help and immediately Eli came running in. He looked at me and immediately picked me up. He picked me up and put me on the bed while he shouted for Ali to call 911.

I must have passed out because the next thing I knew I was in a hospital room yet again with tubes hooked up to my body. I looked around and saw Eli. He had a look of worry on his face and rushed over to me when he realized I was finally awake.

"Oh my god, Clare! I am so glad you are awake! You lost a lot of blood, I didn't know if you would ever wake up!" I looked at him like he was crazy and I said,

"What are you talking about; only thing that happened was my water broke." He looked at me and said,

"Do you know what day it is Clare?" I nodded and said,

"It's Thursday." He sighed and said,

"What month?" I looked at him like he was stupid and I said,

"June." That's when I saw him panic more and he said,

"I will be right back." Eli vanished and I lied back down on my hospital bed wondering what the hell was going on.

It wasn't even two minutes later that Eli came rushing back in with a doctor. The doctor looked at me with utter most shock and said,

"Well it really is a miracle!" I looked at him like he was crazy and said,

"What are you even talking about?" He came and sat on the very end of my hospital bed and said,

"Clare, what is the last thing you remember?" I thought for a second and I said,

"Um I remember my water breaking in my bedroom, but after that it's blank." The doctor nodded and wrote a few things down on a clip board and said,

"Okay Clare. Well we need to tell you a few things." I nodded and felt an instant headache in my head. Pounding it hurt badly.

The doctor wrote down a few more things and while he was doing that, I looked over at Eli and he was looking at me in awe. He had red puffy eyes and a face stained with tears.

When the doctor finally turned back to me, he said,

"Clare, you passed out in your room and you started to bleed out. Eli here called for help and we rushed you to the hospital where we did emergency surgery to get the babies out. They were about two months early, but we put them on antibiotics and incubation for a month and they are thriving. But Clare…" I looked at him as he paused to look at me directly in the eyes.

"That was over a year ago." I gasped and choked out,

"W-what?" He nodded and said,

"After you delivered, you went into a coma and we couldn't figure out why. Your vitals were stable and you were breathing on your own, but for some reason you didn't wake up." I nodded and said,

"Where are my babies? Oh my god, where is Lily?" Eli must have seen the utter panic in my eyes and he ran over to my side and said,

"Don't worry, she is in school right now, and Ali has been taking amazing care of her." I looked at him with wide eyes and said,

"How are the twins?" He smiled slightly and pulled out a photo from his wallet of them. In the picture were two beautiful babies in their cribs.

"They are just fine; Ali and Fiona are looking over them right now." I nodded and said,

"Doctor, when will I be able to go home?" He looked over at Eli the back to me and said,

"Next week if you are making progress enough to suit my concerns." I nodded and lay back down. My head still was throbbing and all I wanted to do was to see my children.

Two weeks later… home.

It took more time than expected, but the doctor finally released me to go home. Eli was overjoyed to see me finally heading back to our home.

When we got there, I immediately went into my room to see all that I had missed. When I opened the door, I saw that everything had changed. My pale blue walls weren't that anymore; they were a dull gray now. My bed spread wasn't flowered and yellow, it was black. Everything was different now, this wasn't my room anymore, and this was Eli's.

Eli came up behind me and saw my sadness over the room and said,

"I just wanted to make it more manly is all." I glared at him and said,

"That was my room! I designed it myself!" I sat on the chair in the corner of the room; only thing that was still the same and I cried.

I didn't want to be around anyone so Eli left the room and went down the hall to Lily's room. The next thing I knew I saw a beautiful much taller girl entering my room. She saw me and ran over to me and said,

"Oh my god, mommy!"

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**Yeah, that was a shock to me too! I am going to take this story to the next level and add some sass to it! Please let me know! Next chapter will have the babies in it as well as the other characters and what happened to them over the year. Yes the time leap was huge, but it was needed to keep this story going! Please review if you want an update soon or at all :)**


	28. Chapter 28

**I don't own anything.**

**This is very short; I just couldn't make it any longer. Please review and let me know what you think. Comment/review whatever if you want an update soon or at all.**

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"Lily!" I said as I tried to sit up. She smiled and ran up to me and attacked me with a long awaited hug. She was so beautiful; luckily she looked nothing like Jake.

Everyone sat around and told me how things have been over the last year. Only one thing was missing; Ali. She hasn't come to see me yet. When I grew more impatient, I looked over to Eli and I said,

"Where is Ali?" Eli looked down at his hands and said,

"Clare, she is outside, she is scared to come in here." I looked at him oddly and said,

"I want to see her. Please go get her." Eli left without another word and a minute later Ali came walking in. But when I saw her, something was different.

I stared at Ali and then down at her stomach. It was huge. She was pregnant.

"A-Ali?" I whispered. She looked down at me and then at her hands. She let a few tears slip and said,

"I am so sorry Clare." I looked around at everyone in the room and then back to her. She sat down gingerly in the chair and sobbed. Eli went over to comfort her and he kissed the top of her head, that's when I realized what happened. She and Eli are together.

There it was, clear as day, my best friend and my boyfriend together in a tight embrace, and here I am in a hospital bed not knowing what happened to everyone and everything. I guess a year of being asleep made everyone move on…

The next afternoon…

"Clare, you are doing remarkable, I think you can go home tomorrow if you are feeling better and can walk on your own by then." I looked blankly at the doctor and I said,

"I have no home to go to." He saw the remorse in my eyes and he sat down. He put a hand over mine and said,

"He thought you were never going to wake up, Ali was dealing with being alone and that ex of hers beat her so badly. She was scared and from what I heard from that Fiona girl Eli just tried to comfort her one night and things got a little out of hand." Hot tears slipped down my face and I just wanted to die. My best friend stole my man, and my daughter was being raised by them as well as my twin boys. I had no life, nothing.

One hour later…

"Hey, I heard you were awake." I was looking on the hospital laptop when I saw none other than Holly J. She smiled and walked over to me and hugged me gently.

"Yeah, I woke up yesterday afternoon." She nodded and said,

"Fiona told me, she wanted to come see you, but she didn't know if Ali was going to be here and well…" I nodded before she could finish. Holly J sat down on the edge of my bed and said,

"So what are you doing?" I sighed and said,

"I am looking for a cheap apartment; I won't go back to living with them." She nodded and then instantly said,

"How about you come over to me and Fiona's house and live with us, we have an extra room, and honestly we figured you would need somewhere to stay once you found out about Ali and Eli." I knew I was stupid, I sat there listening to Holly J and I cried. She stopped talking and leaned over and hugged me tightly. She rubbed my hair a little and said,

"I am so sorry she did this to you, she is a tramp. You know her and Eli had been having hook ups even before you were even in a coma." I looked at her in utter shock and I said,

"W-What?"

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**Short chapter, sorry. This one is a sad but necessary twist. I had to add it because it is important to the story line if I want to keep the story going for as long as I can without boring people to death. My ribs are killing me and the baby is kicking like crazy so I must go. Please review, I don't have enough energy to beg, so yeah. Love you guys, thanks for all the support :) **


	29. Chapter 29

**I don't own anything!**

**Thank you all so much for the support, this chapter has a twist for the weak in it! Love you all, I am going to go take a nap after I'm done typing this up. Oh and by the way I am going to have a new chapter for **_**Milestones **_**up next week, maybe tomorrow :) please review.**

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"What do you mean?" I asked Holly J in a small voice. She looked at me with sympathy and said,

"I have seen them kiss and cuddle, not to mention the time Lily caught them going at it on the couch." My face turned white and I knew things were over. Eli and Ali were together, and I had no one. They had my children; my babies.

Two days later…

"Well this is your room." Fiona said as she led me into the medium-sized bedroom. I smiled and walked gingerly over to the bed and sat down.

"Thanks Fiona, I don't know what I would do without you." She smiled and said,

"No problem, I am so glad you are Ok." We both smiled and she left the room while I got adjusted. I still had to go get stuff from my old home, but I didn't want to be anywhere near Ali or Eli right now. I however am going to fight for custody of my twins, and Lily of course.

I sat in my room thinking for a while until something occurred to me.

"Holly J!" I yelled down the stairs. I heard stomps up the stairs and in come Holly J. She looked winded from the fast pace of going up the stairs,

"What? Are you Ok?" She asked as she leaned over and put her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

"What are the twins' names?" She looked at me a little shocked but finally said,

"Kylie and Kyle." I sighed a little and said,

"Those weren't the names we agreed on." She nodded and said,

"Ali named them." Ugh I knew that back stabbing whore would do this.

"Oh, okay." I said as I looked down. I just wanted to cry, I needed to get custody of my life back.

After Holly J told me, she and I talked for a little while, and oddly she quickly became one of my best friends; which I didn't think was possible since high school she seemed to be brutal. I guess you really can't judge people by their covers.

The next day… Eli and Ali's house.

I knocked lightly on the door; standing next to me on the steps was Fiona and Holly J. There was no way they were going to let me go over here alone with the current situation at hand.

A few seconds later and the door opened; it was Eli. He was holding the girl twin and patting her back gently. I looked at my daughter in awe and said,

"Oh god, she's beautiful." Eli just smiled a little and said,

"What did you need?" I sighed a little but said,

"I need to get all my stuff, and take Lily." Eli looked at me in shock and said,

"You can't take her; you have no rights to her." I looked at him shocked and said,

"You are not her father! Jake is, and he signed over custody to me, I am her sole provider, not you! Now get out of my way because as I recall I own this house still, and I also own your ass because you cheated on me." Eli looked down at me with an intense glare,

"Get out." Is all he said in a stern voice?

"Don't you dare talk to her like that you gothic prick!" Fiona shouted as we all entered the house. I went directly upstairs and into Lily's room. It was different. New paint, new furniture, she had nothing left of her life with me.

I knocked on Lily's door and saw Lily look up from the book she was reading. Her face lit up when she saw me and she ran over to hug me.

"Mommy! I missed you so much! What are you doing here?" She asked curiously.

"I am here to take you with me; I want you to come live with me." Her eyes lit up and she said,

"Really? When?" I smiled and I said,

"How about now, we just need to pack you up and you can come with me today." She smiled brightly and hugged me tight. It was so good to see my baby girl again.

Thirty minutes later…

We finished packing Lily's necessity and went onto my old room. I was about to go into my old room when I heard a sound. It was coming from the guest room. I quietly opened the door and got the shock of my life, there was Ali taking off a fake pregnancy belly.

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**Yeah, I know short. I again am exhausted I hope you guys enjoyed it. Thank you all for the reviews last chapter, I nearly cried when I saw how many! Hopefully I will have a new chapter up by Tuesday or Wednesday. Love you all, please review :)**


	30. Chapter 30

**I don't own anything!**

**Thank you all for the amazing reviews! I know some of you are craving Eclare in this story again, but give it some time and it might just happen :) The **_**italics **_**are Ali's POV's memory of the last year. Please read and review, I am pooped so it's bedtime! Thanks you guys so much for the support :)**

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"Ali?" I said in shock as I walked in the door. She turned around and instantly tried to shove her shirt down to cover the fluffy pillow looking belly. I walked fully in the room and shut the door. I walked over to her and sat on the bed. I patted the spot next to me and said,

"Sit, now." She obeyed and sat next to me. I stayed quiet for a minute before saying,

"What is going on here?" I pointed to her belly. She looked at me a little from the corner of her eye and said,

"It was the only way." I looked back at her, this time fully facing her and I said,

"What do you mean?" she sighed and said,

"Let me start from the beginning…" so I sat there and she began to talk about the last year.

"_She's lost a lot of blood, we don't know if she is even going to wake up yet or not." The doctor told Eli and me. I let a silent sob escape my lips and Eli side hugged me. He looked at me and said,_

"_Well we will have to make it work, for the twins and for Lily and Jason." I nodded and we went over to Clare and I kissed her cheek before leaving Eli and her alone._

_Two months later…_

"_We're sorry, she isn't making any progress, are you sure you don't want to pull her off life support?" The doctor asked. Eli shook his head 'no' and I said,_

"_Defiantly not." The doctor looked at us and said,_

"_Do you two have any relations to Ms. Edwards?" I looked at Eli and he looked back at me and I said,_

"_I'm pregnant with his baby and it will be brother or sister to Clare's children, so we are all family." The doctor looked at us a little stunned but nodded nonetheless. _

_When the doctor left Eli looked at me and said,_

"_What the hell, Ali?" I shook my head and said,_

"_Don't worry, I just want to be involved with Clare, I have been her best friend since well forever and I am not going to let you make all her decisions for her now." Eli shook his head and was about to object when the doctor walked back in. He was looking at his clip board, so I quickly attached my lips to Eli's and made sure he wouldn't pull back until we were convincing._

"_Oh um sorry." The doctor said before leaving the room with a light chuckle, and Eli and I pulled apart; both of us lightly couching and looking awkwardly at each other._

_Months later…_

_As time grew on I didn't know what else to do, so I bought pregnancy bellies from the internet and started to progressively put them on accordingly to each monthly time. I had a new one for every month._

_Month nine…_

"_And then you woke up…" _

"So you and Eli never hooked up?" Ali shook her head in disgust and said,

"Never, but I didn't want to lose what little bit of you I had left, so this weekend I was going to fake a fall and 'lose' the baby so there wouldn't be any questions now that you were awake." I looked at her and then I looked back to bed before saying,

"Fiona said you and Eli had been together before I even had the babies…" Ali turned white and said,

"No, that isn't true. I know what she saw, but it wasn't what she thought it was, I swear!" Ali threw her hands up in distraught and I sighed before asking,

"Then what is it that she saw exactly?" Ali sighed and took off her uncomfortable looking belly before saying,

"Eli was nervous about touching a girl right after she gave birth, he didn't know if it was okay to kiss them or to _touch _them…" I blushed and said,

"What exactly did you show Eli to do?" Ali looked down and said,

"I put his hand on my boob and I said to him 'rub gently, don't want to hurt them'." I blushed but grew sad all at once.

"Eli and you are in love now; you guys are raising my babies." Ali reached over and wiped away stray tears that I didn't even know had fallen before saying,

"No, Eli and I aren't together. I help him with the babies, and he is helping with Jason as always."

Ali and I talked a little more before I got up from the bed and went out the door to get the rest of the things I needed. If anything I needed a break from her, from him. I don't know if I believe her story because on her neck told a story of its own; a dark purple hickey.

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**Yeah, I know… short! For whoever doesn't know, the italics are Ali's memory of the last year, not Clare POV for once in the story. Do you guys think Ali and Eli are actually together or is Ali telling the truth? Let me know what you think! By the way, thanks again for all the amazing reviews! I got twelve last chapter! I am awestruck right now! Thanks again and please review :)**


	31. Chapter 31

**I don't own anything.**

**Please enjoy, it isn't too exciting, but next chapter will have some more stuff, this is just leading up to the events of that. please let me know what you think :)**

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Two months later…

"Thank you guys so much for letting me stay here, I'm going to miss you so much." I said to Fiona and Holly J as I packed up my last box so I could embark on my new adventure as an apartment renter.

I tossed my box in the back of the van I rented and I went back inside to get the kids. Eli and Ali were still living together raising Jason while I went to court and told them about her lying and faking a pregnancy and Eli's mental problems. To say the least the judge was more than happy to give me custody of my twins and of Lily. I even got the bakery in the settlement because I sued Ali and she couldn't pay so she gave up her half of the bakery.

At the apartment…

"Wow, mommy this is huge!" Lily shouted as she walked inside. I laughed and said,

"It was an old fire house, I got it for a good deal. Now go pick out your room sweetie." She smiled brightly and went into the home and chose a room with the smallest area space. I snuck up behind her and said,

"Why did you pick the tiniest room?" she looked up at me with her big blue eyes and said,

"The twins need a bigger room because they have to share, and you deserve a big room mommy, you are paying for this, you take care of us, you deserve something nice for once." I let a tear fall from my face and I bent down and hugged her with all my ability. She smiled and said,

"Can we paint in here or is it supposed to stay white?" I looked around before saying,

"Um, well if it isn't too outrageous I think the land lord won't mind if we paint." She nodded and went over to the boxes of stuff and started to sort through what goes in what room.

I went over to the strollers where the twins were and I picked them up and placed them in the play pin so they could move around a bit while we unpacked a little. I needed to set up their new cribs Fiona and Holly J bought them as a present.

One hour later…

"Dammit!" I shouted as I smacked my hand again with a hammer. So far I couldn't figure out this crib thing and I really didn't know anyone who could. So there I sat crying on the floor of the twins room sucking on my thumb. I knew that I didn't need to depend on people anymore, I could take care of myself, I don't need anyone to help me anymore. Its an attitude like that that makes me actually want to get stuff done.

One day later…

"Wow, so far we have actually managed to assemble all the beds and put all the boxes in the correct rooms!" Lily said with a chipper smile on her face. I laughed and said,

"How do you feel about going out for dinner tonight, we don't have any food yet." She laughed and said,

"Ok! Let's go!" we got the twins changed and dressed and I put the alarm on before leaving the home.

It didn't take us long to reach the small diner, so once we got there, I gave the twins both a bottle of warmed strained carrots and Lily ordered a basket of chicken strips. She hadn't changed a bit since I went into a coma.

"Is there anything else I can get for you?" the nice older waitress asked. I smiled and said,

"Actually can we get a piece of lemon pound cake and chocolate cake?" she smiled and nodded before walking away. when she was gone, I turned to Lily and said,

"What's dinner without a yummy dessert?" she laughed and shook her head as if I were crazy.

When the waitress came back with our dessert, I handed her my credit card and told her to please charge up our bill. She nodded and walked away.

"So Lily, do you want to go to the bakery with me tomorrow?" she nodded, her face was covered with chocolate.

"Sure mommy, I miss helping you bake and decorate. How many orders do you have to fill tomorrow." I thought for a second and said,

"Only two, business has been kind of slow lately." She nodded and the waitress came back over. She looked at me oddly and said,

"You're not that girl who went into a mysterious coma are you?" I looked at her oddly and said,

"What?" she said,

"Look at this…" she walked away for a second and came back out from behind the counter and got a news paper. "This is you, or it says it's your name on the credit card." I choked on my own spit before saying,

"Oh my god, I was put in a coma on purpose?"

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**Next chapter will have Eli in it, I have it ready to go, just some editing. I'm so sad today, I have been crying like a baby. Rest in peace all the people who died in the **_**Century 16**_** Colorado shooting. I lost a friend in that and I pray they will rest peacefully. Ok, love you guys, please review, I depend on you all :)**


	32. Chapter 32

**I don't own anything!**

**Well I have to say that this took longer than expected! I have been having labor pains, so I went to the doctor. He said I was fine, just keep resting. Okay enough about me, now this chapter has Eli! It is fairly short, but worth it if you ask me. I don't have any plans to end this story anytime soon, so yes there is a twist at the end! **_**Italics **_**are flashbacks. Please let me know what you all think! :)**

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Two days later…the bakery.

"Now just use the sparkle dust on the petals and let them dry." I said to Lily. She nodded and started her task. I smiled at her concentration while I made the stems and gum drop centers for the flower cake. Lately the bakery has been slow since Ali signed over her half. Either way I still made the best of it, I knew I just had to get the word out there that the bakery is fresh and amazing.

I was in the middle of cutting a stem when the bell to the bakery rung. I set down my tools and went to the front. I braced myself to charm the customer into ordering a delectable cake when I looked up to see who it was.

"Eli?" I said. He smiled shyly at me and said,

"Um, hey Clare." I looked at him appalled and said,

"What do you want?" He looked down at his black clad boots and said,

"I want to come back into your life." I let out a dry laugh and said,

"Hell no. Now get out and go back to prissy Ali." He looked hurt at my words but said nonetheless,

"I never wanted her, but after you went into a coma, I didn't know how to do anything on my own, she offered help. That thought of failing our babies scared the shit out of me, so I just let her help me." I looked at him and said,

"I heard you and Ali were hooking up before I ever went into any sort of coma." Eli stared blankly at me and said,

"She and I never hooked up, my guess would be Fiona told you, and what she saw was Ali trying to get me to sleep with her. She told me you didn't care about me and wanted me gone, so she kissed me and attempted to seduce me. I was off all meds and confused, but one thing I was never confused on was…" he was about to speak when Lily came out of the back with glitter all over herself. She saw Eli and marched over to him and her frail leg and kicked him hard in the boy parts.

"Lily!" I said as I saw Eli fall to the ground, holding his crotch in pain. Lily smirked and said,

"That's what you get for cheating on my mommy, better think twice next time before you come near us again you sick butthead!" Lily stomped on his foot before walking over to me. She smiled up at me and said,

"I'm going to go call the cops." I laughed a little but grabbed her hand nonetheless and said,

"There's no need for that baby, let's just give him the benefit of the doubt and explain." Lily let out a loud sigh but went over to the counter to take a seat and listen to the man talk that nearly ruined our lives.

Two days later… home.

"Mom! Can you bring me a clean towel?" Lily shouted from the bathroom.

"Okay, just give me a minute to grab one from the dryer." She muttered a 'thanks' and shut the door.

I brought Lily the towel and went back to the kitchen to prepare dinner. I was so deep in thought about the whole Eli conversation; I nearly let the chicken burn.

"_One thing I was never confused on was that you loved me. I knew you would never leave me for any other man ever again. We were finally making progress." Eli said still on the floor._

"_You mean Ali faked a pregnancy for…" I didn't finish my sentence until Eli cut in and said,_

"_For her protection as well as yours. She figured not only could she make your health decisions but she could also keep the bakery running better if there were more to show for it." I nodded and said,_

"_What happened to her, she was my best friend then she is trying to steal my fiancé… I just don't get it." Eli sighed and said,_

"_She thought because of Dave being a cheater and a wife beater she could find a nice guy to replace him with. It seems to be that I was the only one who was around at that point."_

"Lily put the plates on the counter, we will eat at the breakfast bar tonight." I said as Lily grabbed plates from the glass cupboards.

"Sure mom. Do you want me to grab a couple jars of baby food too?" She asked sweetly. I smiled and nodded and said,

"Thanks baby, your choice as to what the twins eat tonight." She went to the cabinet and got a couple different jars and fixed them up for the babies.

After we finished with dinner, the doorbell rang.

"Coming!" I said as I got up off the couch and walked to the front door. I took off the chain on the door and creaked the door open.

I slowly looked and came face to face with Eli again.

"What do you need, Eli?" I said as politely as I could. He looked a little panicked and said,

"It's Ali, she ran away with Dave."

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**Yeah, there is Eli. Let's see how it goes now! Love you all, let me know :)**


	33. Chapter 33

**I don't own anything!**

**I hope you all enjoy, a little bit of comedy at the end. This chapter was a little sad to write, but I am emotional, what can I say? Please review to let me know what you think! Thank you all :)**

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"What do you mean she ran away with Dave?" I said to Eli after a brief moment of silence. He looked at me and said,

"She packed her bags this morning and her and Dave left. They took Jason with them!" Even if I didn't much care for Ali anymore, I still cared about her, if that even makes sense.

I invited Eli in, and I went in the other room and tried to call Ali's cell phone. There was no answer, but as to be expected I didn't think she would answer. After many tries to call her I finally gave up and went back into the living room with Eli. He was sitting on the couch with his hands crossed over his legs and his head drooped low.

"Eli?" I whispered. He glanced up and said,

"She left because she didn't want to be in your way anymore." I looked at him a little shocked and I sat down on the coffee table adjacent him. I put a hand on his and I said,

"What do you mean? She and I live separate lives; she isn't in my way as am I in hers." Eli let out a sigh and said,

"She wanted you and me to get back together, and she felt as if she were in the picture it would make it nearly impossible for us to do so, so she took off with her only option." I sat back a little and nearly lost my balance and I said,

"She didn't have to do that, I don't much care for her, but I still love her as a good friend always should. I know Dave is dangerous, I know what he did to her and I know she would never want him around Jason. We need to find her and make things right!" Eli smirked and pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

I watched curiously as Eli talked on the phone. As soon as he hung up the doorbell rang. I sighed and got up, still wanting to know what Eli was doing on the phone.

I got to the door, not bothering to look through the peep-hole and swung the door open. Standing on the other side was Ali. I glanced at her in shock and I stuttered,

"What? No, why are you here?" She laughed and said,

"It's a long story, may I come in?" I nodded like a stupid idiot and in she walked.

Ali went over to Eli and patted him atop the head and went to sit in a chair away from the rest of the furniture. She got adjusted and said,

"Now that I am here and sitting, let me explain." I nodded yet again and said,

"Okay, but this better is good." She just let out a slight chuckle and said,

"Well Eli and I concocted this plan to get you to let us back into your life. I wanted to know that in a time of crisis you would still care about me." I looked between them and I said,

"You have got to be kidding me! Where is Jason by the way?" Ali immediately responded by saying,

"He is in day care, with my new job I just don't have the flexible hours anymore, like I used to."

This was all a little too much for me to handle, so I left the room and went into the bathroom to catch my breath for a minute. I just can't believe Eli and Ali would pull a stunt like this on me. I mean yes I still care about Ali, but she didn't have to do this! I think if she were to have just come over and talked to me like a normal person; the chances of forgiving her and welcoming her back into my life were much greater than this.

It must have been twenty minutes before I heard a subtle knock at the door. I opened the door and saw Ali standing before me. She had a look of remorse on her face, and tears in her eyes. I opened the door fully and let her in and shut the door again. We went over to the side of the tub and both of us sat down.

"Clare…" Ali started to say, but she choked on a sob.

"Ali, just tell me why." Ali looked up at me and then put her head in her hands. She let out a loud whimper and shook as she sat there silent.

"Just tell me why you tried to hook up with my fiancé?" She finally looked up at me and said,

"I was jealous of you. You had a daughter, twins on the way and a perfect family growing. Eli was there for you, full of love and passion; I had no one and absolutely nothing!" She continued to cry, and I got up and got her a piece of toilet paper. She wiped her nose and eyes and looked up at me.

"Ali, did you know that I was always jealous of you? You managed to escape an abusive relationship and raise your son as if nothing was wrong. You were so strong and kept me on my feet whenever I was falling. Out of anyone in this world I would never expect this from you, yes from that bitch Imogen, but never my best friend. I thought better of you, you broke my heart." Ali got up from her spot and attacked me in a crushing hug.

Ali and I stayed crying and hugging until the door the bathroom swung open and came running Eli holding his crotch. He looked around at us and quickly said,

"Glad to see the two of you are friends again, now get out! I have to pee!"

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**Next chapter will have more of a plot than this, I am sort of thinking of ending this in a chapter or so. No one seems to care for it much anymore so I feel no real reason to expand the story anymore. Thank you all for you sweet reviews and support. Please let me know what you all think :)**


	34. Chapter 34

**Thank you all for reviewing, I literally almost cried from all the kindness! This chapter has a surprise ending in it. Oh and no Eli in this chapter, but next one will have him and a few other people! Thank you all so much! Please review so I know if I should continue or not :)**

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Two weeks later… the bakery.

"So this cake is an erotic cake?" Ali asked with an eyebrow quirked up. I turned towards her and nodded.

"Yes, I had to bring in some business, so I advertised this as an option." Ali let out a chuckle and said,

"Okay but you're making this delivery." I swear I let out a blush but said nonetheless,

"I hired a new delivery person, so we have no need for that." Ali looked at me and said,

"Oh, who?" I smiled and shouted for the mystery person to come out from the back.

"You called?" He asked. Ali's eyes bulged out and ran over to him and shouted,

"Adam! What are you doing here? Oh god, you're so muscular and manly now." She was put on a flirty tone and Adam just hugged her back and said,

"Well Clare seems to like to give all her friends in need a job, so Eli recommended I come to her and ask if I could help out. You see I am a little strapped for cash at the moment." Ali nodded and kissed his cheek. I laughed at their awkward embrace and I said,

"Adam I will need you to make a delivery in about an hour." He nodded and said,

"Where to, boss?" I laughed and said,

"Well a bachelorette party." Adam's eyes bugged out and said,

"Oh no, not another penis cake!" I laughed and said,

"You need money, I need a delivery driver… it's your choice." He let out a sigh and went back to the back in a huff.

The next day… my apartment.

"Mommy, can we talk?" Lily asked me. I got up from the couch, set down my sketch pad and walked to her room.

"Sure sweetie, what do you need to talk about?" She put her hands in her long curls and tugged on them a little, as if her response would be agonizing and she said,

"I did something bad, mommy." I leaned down to her level and I said,

"Come on baby; just tell mommy what you did." Lily started to cry and she whispered,

"I broke your antique mixing bowl." I looked at her broken face and I said,

"Baby girl, that was just a bowl, you are my life; my first born. I don't care if the bowl is in a million pieces; all I care about is if you are Ok." Lily looked at me with sad eyes and attacked me with a hug that knocked us both over. She cried against my shoulder and I rubbed her back.

A few minutes later Lily calmed down and I asked,

"Um where did you put the broken bowl?" Lily sighed and walked to closet and pulled out a box of broken porcelain. I looked down at the blue and white chunks and I said,

"Just because it is broken, doesn't mean you can't turn it into something beautiful." And so the rest of the night after I put the twins to bed, Lily and I broke the bowl further and glued chunks along a picture frame and rounded off the sharp points. When complete it was a work of art.

"I think I like this bowl even better now." I said to Lily as we set it on the table to dry. Lily smiled wide and hugged me. I hugged her back and helped her get ready for bed. Tonight was a long night but well worth it to make my baby happy again.

One week later… grocery store.

My product delivery man for the bakery has been so unreliable lately; he never remembers half the stuff I order. Ugh, I guess I am going to have to shop for myself more often and not depend on him so much anymore; only for small deliveries.

I was walking through the aisles, mostly just looking around when I spotted a sale on butter. Of course I need tons of butter to bake with so I went over to the shelf and shoveled it into the cart. I was about to finish buying it all when a man came up behind me and said,

"Gosh, save some for the rest of us." I laughed and said,

"Sorry, my delivery man didn't bring it and I got a bakery to run." He nodded and said,

"Well that really sucks. However do you mind if I grab just one of these butters? I have a dinner to make tonight." I smiled and handed him butter.

"Here you go. Good luck with your dinner, sir." He smiled and said,

"I'm Dallas." I held my hand out and said,

"I'm Clare. It's nice to meet you." He smiled and said,

"So what bakery do you work at?" I was staring at his toned body when I finally answered,

"Actually I own the one just two blocks away." He stared back at me and said,

"You guys make the best cakes ever!" I laughed and thanked him. He smiled and I was about to walk away when he gently grabbed my arm and said,

"Look this dinner is for my boss, I am a professional chef. I was wondering if maybe you would like to go out after I finish prepping dinner for his party tonight?"

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**Is Clare moving on? I think Dallas is really cute, I'm just saying! Okay, please let me know what you think! If you guys review and like this chapter I will defiantly continue to make this story longer and update more frequently! Love you all, please review :)**


	35. Chapter 35

**I don't own anything!**

**Please forgive the long absence I missed you all so much! Please read and review so I know what to do for the next chapter :)**

**Oh and important author's note at the bottom, please read on! Thanks everyone :)**

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Home… two hours later.

"So mommy, are you making dinner or what?" I let out a sharp breath and turned around to find Lily holding her plate and fork ready to chow down on whatever I prepared that evening. I laughed at her direct demeanor and said,

"Honey, how about I order in some Chinese food and call Adam to come take care of you." Lily gave me an unsettled look and said,

"Why aren't you eating dinner with me, mommy?" I sighed and sat in the chair across from her and said in a gentle voice,

"Sweetie, mommy has a dinner date. So Adam will take care of you and the twins. Ok sweetie?" She let out a breath and nodded. I was about to stand up when I heard Lily say,

"Is your date with Eli?" I felt my face flush and I said,

"No sweet heart, I have a date with a very nice gentle man I met today." I saw the disappointment flash over her face and I bent down to hug her.

The embrace of my daughter was short but sweet but rudely interrupted by my phone ringing. Without checking caller-ID I answered.

"Hello?" I said into the receiver.

"Clare? It's me, Eli." I sucked in air and said,

"Um, hey. Did you need something?"

"Well I was wondering if I could come see the twins tonight, maybe you and I could talk?" I felt my heart sink a little but I kept a strong stance and I said,

"You can come over, but Adam will be here taking care of the children. I am going out." I heard Eli breathe heavier and he finally said after a short pause,

"Oh, you're dating someone?" I let out a dry chuckle and I said,

"Yes, I have a date. Now listen if you want to come over, Lily and the twins need to be kept to the same routine. Do you understand that, Eli?"

"Never mind, I think I will just come another time. I got to go." I could hear the pain in Eli's voice, but I could also not help but think about the pain him and Ali had caused me.

Two days later…

"So let me get this straight, Dallas picked you up and the date was going great until when?" I let out a sigh and I turned to Fiona and I said one last time,

"Until he said something along the lines of 'you're Jake's ex, aren't you?'" Fiona's eyes widened and she said,

"Oh my god, Dallas isn't who he says he is; we all went to high school together!" I nodded and put my cake batter covered hands over my eyes and let out a sob.

"He used me to find Jake. He targeted me to…" I choked on a sob and Fiona rushed over to hug me tight. It was a few hours after I met Dallas that I had realized he was nothing more than someone looking for Jake. Again Jake owed him money and I was there to take the beating for it all.

One week later… the bakery.

I swear things got worse after that night. I put in a security system into my apartment and took extra cautious ways to protect my babies.

I was cleaning the counters down to start a new project when the store doorbell rang. I looked up to see Eli standing outside with his hands in his pockets and a sad look across his face. I walked over to him and opened the door to let him in. He smiled at me and said,

"Hey, I just came to see if you needed any help today?" Fiona must've called him; she came down with a nasty case of the stomach flu last night and took the rest of the week off to heal as fast as she could.

"Sure Eli, I actually need help decorating cupcakes today." He smiled at me and went to the closet to put on an apron and chef's hat. I smiled at how adorable he looked and went into the cooler to grab the cabinet of fresh cakes.

While I was setting them up on a turn table, Eli was grabbing fondant and frosting buckets.

"So um how was your date?" Eli asked me out of the blue. I looked at him direct in the eyes and said,

"It was a train wreck to be honest." Eli's face plastered on a huge smirk and he hopped onto the counter to take a seat to hear about the awful details.

After explaining to him all that happened, Eli smiled and came over and hugged me. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in and I said,

"I miss you, Eli."

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**Is this where it ends? **

**Okay everyone, I know it has been a long time since I have updated, I am so sorry. Just today I have found enough energy to get back into the realm of fan-fiction. I missed every single one of you. I know this chapter is short, but I liked it. I am thinking about adding a lemon in the next chapter. It has been about a year since I have even attempted such a thing, so let me know if you would like me to try again on writing one or keep it 'pg'.**

**As for **_**Milestones**_** I am trying to think up ideas to make up a new chapter soon. I am hoping tomorrow afternoon I should have an update. Again, thank you all so much for reading, please review and let me know where to take this. Thanks!**


	36. Chapter 36

**I don't own anything!**

**I have an important note at the end, please read it. Thank you all so much for the support. **

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I don't know how it happened but Eli and I made emends and now are back to a loving couple. A special moment after decorating cupcakes has now presented itself with a now pregnant me and a glowing Eli. I haven't told him the news yet, but I know he will be ecstatic to find we have yet another child on the way. The doctors have told me I wasn't able to carry another child, I will prove them wrong.

Two weeks and three days later…

"Clare, are you Ok?" I heard Eli ask as I vomited in the toilet with a loud heave.

"Yes, actually no. Can you come in please?" I answered as I grabbed a square of toilet paper and wiped the corner of my mouth. A second later Eli came into the room and sat down next to me on our plush rug. I shut the toilet lid and turned to him.

"Eli, I'm pregnant again." He looked at me shocked and shot up off the floor. He opened the door to the bathroom again and slammed it shut behind him. I let a loose tear fall and I slowly stood up.

"Eli!" I shouted as I ran after him out of the house. He turned around with a face of anger and said,

"You're such a whore, Clare." I looked at him in sadness and said,

"What are you talking about?" He pointed a shaky finger at me and said,

"You and that Dallas guy go out once and he fucking gets you pregnant. I never want to see your hideous face again!" I fell to the floor and shook as Eli got into his new car and sped off. My body shook with trembles and I fell faint.

The next day…

"Oh my god, Clare, are you Ok?" Adam asked me as I sat in bed shaking and crying.

"No, he called me a whore when this is his child I am carrying." Adam's face grew angry and his blue eyes got darker than I have ever seen. He got up from the edge of my bed and stormed off out the door.

"Adam! Where are you going?" I shouted but it was too late, the front door was slammed shut and the sound of an engine was being reeved up.

One hour later, the nursery.

"Hush babies, mommy is going to feed you in just a minute." I said to the children as I got up and mixed a bowl of bananas and wheat cereal. I mixed the bowls and grabbed two spoons. I put both boys in their highchairs and proceeded to feed them their lunch. I think most of the cereal went on my shirt than in their mouths to say the least.

I got both boys cleaned up from lunch and I went into the living room and put them in the play pin. I grabbed a book from the shelf and tried to distract myself from the pain I was enduring on the inside. I don't think life is very fair when all you do is tell the truth and end up with the shallow end of the deal.

Two hours later…

"Hello?" I answered as the landline rung. I didn't look at the caller I.D. before answering.

"Is this Clare?" I looked at the phone for a second then proceeded to say,

"Yes it is, may I ask who this may be?" The voice sounded faintly familiar but I couldn't quite pin point who it was.

"It's Bianca." I gasped a little but said,

"Wow, I haven't talked to you since high school, how are you?" I heard her chuckle slightly and say,

"I'm good. I actually was calling to ask you for a favor."

"Okay, what can I do for you?" I asked in a cautioned tone.

"Don't worry Edwards, it isn't bad I just heard you owned a bakery and was wondering if you could design a cake for the children's hospital I work at?" I smiled and said,

"Of course I can! It is on the house too, I am always glad to help out with things like this." Bianca let out a breath and said,

"Children's cancer is growing faster and more aggressively these days, I want to bring awareness to it and treat the families who come here to a special night of cake and a small party for the children."

"That sounds so nice, Bianca." I said to her.

"It really is. I am the head of the cancer center here, years of school and honestly faith got me where I am today. I am so thankful for this place; it gave me faith in God again when I thought all hope was lost. Before I go, I heard you have three beautiful babies, would you like for me to do a free screening on them? It is recommended on all children, just a precaution to make sure they are and stay cancer free and healthy." Bianca rambled on for a little while and I held the phone close to my ear thinking about the design I would do for such a great cause. As Bianca quieted down, I finally said,

"That would be great; I have twin sons and a daughter. Thank you so much Bianca, I can't believe how many years have gone by since we have even seen each other. We may never have been close in school, but I hope we can remain friends after the party?" Bianca agreed immediately and she told me what time and colors she would like the cake to be and delivered on. We finished up and I gathered the boys and drove off to the bakery to start on this amazing cake I was going to make.

The bakery…

I was working on mixing the batter for the cake when the chime of the door rung and I looked up, as I usually do. In came a red-eyed Eli and a furious looking Adam. I glared at Eli and smiled slightly at Adam. They both came into the back of the store where I was and Eli hung his head low and avoided all eye contact with me.

"You better start talking, slick." Adam said to Eli as he swatted Eli on the back of the head with a clean spatula I had lying on the counter. Eli looked up and stared into my eyes and opened his mouth to speak. Adam looked at me and backed out of the room without another word.

"Well are you going to say anything?" I said to Eli as I added vanilla bean to the batter and smiled at the amazing aroma.

I kept mixing waiting for Eli to finally speak and after a silent two minutes I finally said,

"Okay, since you are an ass, get out." He looked at me and said,

"I have to say something to you." I nodded and gestured for him to continue.

"I made a mistake; I thought you fucked Dallas… I felt hurt and betrayed." I held up my hand to gesture him to shut up. He shut up immediately and looked at me.

"Oh really, so you and Ali wasn't anything? I was devastated! And you come in here and have the audacity to say you were hurt for something that never fucking happened? Just get the fuck out Eli, get out of my life, my bakery, my house. Just get out!" I was crying and shaking and Eli was letting tear slip of his own as I spoke the harsh words I didn't even process before I spoke them. Eli looked at me with remorse and backed out of the kitchen to the door. He grabbed the knob and looked back at me once more before sniffling and exiting in silence.

A moment passed and I realized I just let the love of my life leave. Never again did I want to lose him, not now, not ever.

"Adam!" I shouted as I ripped off my apron and ran out the door. He knew he had to watch the kids as I took off after Eli.

I ran and ran until I came across him. He was sitting in the café across the street with his head on the table. I walked in with caution and I sat across from him. He looked up slightly and in shock.

"Eli…" I started to say, he looked at me with all the hope in the world in his eyes. I grabbed his arm cautiously and said,

"This baby is yours, we made it together, and it will be the start of something new, something we can do without the heartache we both knew has happened in the past. Just you and me, months of living, years of growing, life of love." He smiled and got up from his seat and picked me up and kissed me in front of the café. This was the years that are to come for us and our lives. We are just beginning.

* * *

**I think I may end it here, I had so much joy in writing this, it made me laugh, cry, and most of all smile. Every time I read reviews and private messages I felt like I was on top of the world. Thank you all for that. This chapter was good because it mended what was broke and did so much more. If I do decide to add more, it will have to be up to you. **

**I did add Bianca in this, her character in the actual show has grown so much that she is one of my favorites now, and to make her into a life-saving pediatric doctor, well I couldn't think of anything better for her. She will be written into many more of my stories, and hopefully keep a good spot in the show.**

**So all I ask of you guys is to review and let me know how you feel about this as an end or as a leap towards the end. But as for me, I consider this my final tribute to this story as of now. But it is up to you. Thank you all for the love and support please let me know once more what you think :)**


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